Reflection About Interpersonal Communication

At the beginning of the semester when we were first asked to write down a few of the relationships that we currently had that we hoped would improve as we learned more and more skills from Interpersonal Communications, I didn’t really try to reach out and find a relationship that could really use the extra help and attention. If I remember correctly, I wrote about a lot of the different relationships that I wanted to grow here on campus thinking that it would be the easiest thing to write about when it came time to write this paper. But with all that had happened with you losing our original relationships we put down and me mainly forgetting what all I wrote about, this allowed me to really think about the different relationships around me that have changed over the semester the more I learned and grew as a person here at Bluffton. Ironically enough, the relationship that has really grown and developed the longer I practiced the new communications skills that I learned is one relationship that I never thought would need any help; the relationship with my mother.

Wood’s Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters that helped when it came to my relationships with my mother. One concept from Wood that had a big impact on the positive change with our relationships was the idea of mindful listening. That it’s not enough to just listen to a person as they talk but to actually give the other person visual or maybe even verbal confirmation to let them know that you’re acknowledging what the other person is saying (Wood). Our relationship no longer feels as one sided as it did before I realized what I was doing. Being able to actually listen to my mom and give her input and keep the conversation up has allowed as to have more meaningful conversations with each other and I have found that I am more willing to come to her now with all the personals problems and struggles that I’ve been facing here at