Creating Healthy & Strong Family Relationships

Family relationships are among the most complicated, but fruitful type of relationships.  The family is where love, understanding, and sharing begin.  Regardless, of the type of family, there is always an opportunity to explore the core values that grow into deeper relationships.  Family life is the place where we start shaping our values, learn useful skills, and imitate behaviors.  Hence, demonstrating good values and exemplary behavior is paramount at an early stage.  This article will highlight 6 important aspects of family life that can help any family become a STRONG family. Dedication is a family quality based on mutual understanding and desire to grow together in unity.  Members of a committed family seek each other’s approval and acceptance by working together to better each other.  A few basic conditions of committed families are:

• Parents are faithful to each other and devoted to the children
• Family comes first, and priorities are in place
• Traditions are observed and cherished
• Forgiveness and Love is present

Gratitude is a basic human need that is important in the family unit to help members grow and create healthy family relationships.  Appreciation is expressed through acceptance and understanding and helps create strong self-esteem and positive outlooks useful throughout life.  Families that exercise appreciation have:

• Express appreciation for small things
• Say, “I Love You” frequently
• Praise and celebrate each other
• Support each other in good and bad times

Quality Time is the time spent being with each other and exploring aspects of everyone’s life that may or may not affect each other.  Quality time is the time vested in the family, but along with quality, we must also focus on quantity.  For example, it has been suggested for families have specific times and activities allocated for family time.  Family time can:

• Improve family communication styles
• Generates inclusion and family identity
• Creates opportunity for family bonding

Communication is the most fundamental and simplest way to create strong relations with members of the family.  Communication requires effective listening skills as well as clear and respectful skills.  Through effective communication one can support and challenge each other to become more in tune with family life and to develop deeper emotional connections.  Effective family communication means:

• Being open and honest
• Avoiding being critical or dismissive
• Clarifying unclear messages
• Seeing through the other person's eyes
• Being understanding

Devout Awareness brings families a sense of belonging and the belief in a higher power.  Whether there is a formal religious affiliation or not believing in a higher power helps families identify with a common purpose.  This common goal helps create a stronger bond that strengthens the family members.   Spirituality helps to deal with the most stressful situations and can provide families many positive benefits.  Awareness is a way to:

• Creates positive guidelines for living
• Coping strategies during difficult times
• Reverence for wisdom and the desire for guidance
• Provides family belief system with positive interactions

Resilient Abilities are problem-solving skills developed through familial interactions that promote unity and trust.  Families that support each other and share mutual respect are more likely to work together to overcome problems that affect the family unit.  Coping Strategies include:

• Seeing the “good in things,” helps stay positive and to handle stressful situations calmly
• Focus on problem-solving as supposed to blame placing
• Seek outside help when necessary to spare family discomfort and prompt problem solving

Why is it important to have healthy family relationships? Families with strong values and positive relational attributes are deeply interconnected and more likely to stay united.  All 6 core qualities reviewed work together to fortify, bond, and support strong family life.  Creating strong family relationships takes hard work, but it makes successful, loving families.  Invest time into your family and watch your family dynamics change.