Communication in all its forms---verbal and non-verbal has the power to influence an entire family in either a positive or negative way. In fact, Nathan Ward Ackerman, chief psychiatrist at the Menninger Child Guidance Clinic in 1937, was a pioneer family researcher who strongly believed that even the personality of one family member could impact the whole family, so he adamantly recommended that psychiatrists treat all the members of a family to understand the problems of that one individual.
Considerations
There are certain actions that families can take to ensure that the communication between one another is keeping the family strong. One step is to be active in listening. Active listening should be nonjudgmental and include nonverbal cues such as nodding your head to encourage the speaker to continue. Active listening by an adult, models good behavior so that the child will later emulate that behavior.
Identification
There are four styles of family communication according to psychiatrists at the Department of Human Development, Virginia Tech. They are clear and direct communication; clear and indirect communication; masked and direct communication; and masked and indirect communication.
Direct and clear communication is the best form because the message is plainly obvious as is to whom it is addressing. Clear and indirect is when a parent does not designate a particular person but instead generalizes. The other two are equally ineffective forms of communicating because the message is either unclear or both the message and who the receiver is supposed to be are unclear.
Warning
There are many factors that can lead to a dysfunctional system of familial communication. Like Nathan Ward Ackerman espoused years ago, what affects one member of a family, affects all the members. Families are interdependent according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. If one member is a chronic substance abuser, the dysfunctional personality of the abuser has the ability to pull the whole family under. Often, the substance abuser's behavior and attitude is a reflection of what other dysfunction is going on in the family.
Effects
To combat this deep-seated force, it is important that the entire family go for counseling. Family intervention programs have been identified as a productive way to approach these problems. During counseling, a pattern of poor communication usually arises that has never been interrupted. The repetition of poor communicative skills sometimes goes on for generations. In these cases, the counselor or psychiatrist must break this pattern and work with each member on how to respond and react appropriately.
Prevention/Solution
Substance abuse is not the only thing that can affect family communication. Mental illness or an unexpected degenerative or chronic illness in the family can upset even the strongest of families. If stresses such as these occur, it is important that families seek professional counseling immediately. If nothing is done, the preservation of the family is at stake.
References
- Nathan Ward Ackerman - Pioneers field of family psychology, Founds institute to study the family
- University of Delaware: Families Matter: Family Communication
- Virginia Cooperative Extension: Families First-Keys to Successful Family Functioning: Communication
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse Chapter 1 - Brief Strategic Family Therapy: An Overview
- National Institute on Drug Abuse: Brief Strategic Family Therapy for Adolescent Drug Abuse Chapter 1 - Brief Strategic Family Therapy: An Overview
