Communication Skills Counseling

Communication Skills Counseling is one of the most common needs clients have when they seek help in psychotherapy or coaching. CriticalPath Counseling teaches clients research-backed skills in communication.

Though relationship problems are a reality of life for everyone at some point, even the most skilled person, on occasion, encounters a relationship problem that is just challenging to navigate.  Communication Skills Counseling can help.

Relationship problems cause a great deal of misery and are one of the biggest causes of dissatisfaction and unhappiness in life. Each day millions of people wake up in the morning, go to work, and participate in daily life with incredible stress from relationship problems.

• Do you feel like people don’t take you seriously?
• Are you frustrated because you can’t articulate what you actually want?
• Do you find yourself reacting to what others say rather than formulating a response that is timely and thoughtful?
• Are you anxious, filled with dread, or visibly nervous when asked about your opinion?
• Are your reactions causing problems or making things worse?
• Are you effective at getting what you want?

At CriticalPath Counseling we don’t assume that relationship problems indicate a mental health problem. However, research does suggest that interpersonal effectiveness in a variety of situations requires the use of certain behaviors, strategies and skills that not everyone has learned.  Good News! You may be feeling frustrated, exhausted, and hopeless about what to do in an important relationship and be able to LEARN these skills through Communication Skills Counseling.

In addition, some people who have a lot of interpersonal skills don’t use them in critical situations. This is often because when people are emotionally aroused their ability to cognitively understand or communicate becomes impaired. In particular, high emotional arousal can cause us to inaccurately describe our experience and this actually increases the likelihood that people will misunderstand us and invalidate us.

Sometimes the problems in relationships result from not having a clear strategy for that person. Let’s face it. We all know complicated people. And we all know that we can’t interact with everyone the same way.

Communication Skills Counseling=Better Communication Skills

Training is the Answer

At CriticalPath Counseling evidence-based communication counseling is offered in both individual psychotherapy programs and educational workshops. Empirically supported tools in emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness are used to help you rapidly get to the heart of the communication struggle and teach you language and tactics to improve the outcomes you are striving for in work and personal relationships.

There is no psychobabble here, just empirically supported tools and strategies that really work to help you navigate complex and important situations involving people.

At CriticalPath Counseling you are taught specific behaviors and techniques that are specific to your unique environment and circumstance. We use loads of real world examples from our life and work experience to help you:

• Validate others even when you disagree
• Create warmth and empathy in difficult conversations
• Manage up to your boss
• Be effective with your kids
• Create respect and love between you and your spouse
• Deliver feedback with a gentle, easy style
• Problem solve delicate and complex discussions with family or colleagues
• Think on your feet
• Maintain an open and collaborative problem solving style
• Say what you mean
• Build trust and credibility
• Communicate in a way that is consistent with your values