UNAIR NEWS – Communication is very crucial in human life. Humans will always communicate with people around them. In this digital era, people will easily communicate with other people far away from them. The existing communication can easily convey information from one person to another.
In addition to making it easier for someone to convey information, communication turns out to be an indicator of mental health in the family. “Because various kinds of problems in the family are usually caused by ineffective communication,” said Prof. Dr. Nurul Hartini, S.Psi., M.Kes., Psychologist, during mental health webinar organized by the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Airlangga, Friday, December 3, 2021.
The lecturer in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health at FPsi UNAIR explained the importance of positive relationships in communication between family members. “When the relationship in the family is positive, then communication can also be built in a positive way so that perhaps less effective communication can still be perceived positively,” she explained.
There are several ways to build effective communication, one of them is by being a good listener. According to Prof. Nurul, this is not easy to do. After all, every family member has their busy schedule. “There is a child who wants to tell a story, but his mother is tired after work. Finally, the mother was reluctant to listen to her child’s story,” said Prof. Nurul.
Another strategy in building effective communication within the family includes using positive language, including to children. By using positive grammar, positive emotions, positive behavior will be built. “It is also important to use language that is easy to understand and does not dominate the conversation,” added Prof. Nurul.
Another thing that is no less important is paying attention to nonverbal expressions. “(Nonverbal expressions, ed) are very, very likely to give more signs than spoken language. Especially for children who are far away, parents must be able to put themselves level with them,” said Prof. Nurul.
Building effective communication within the family can also be done by understanding the characteristics of each family member. “We have different characters even though we are in the same family, so communicating must have a different strategy,” explained Prof. Nurul.
“When we understand the characteristics of each family member, we hope that we will get to know and understand their character. If we understand the character, it will make it easier for us to build relationships or communicate effectively,” she concluded. (*)
Author: Agnes Ikandani
Editor: Binti Q. Masruroh
