The success of any relationship is based on the ability to communicate well. Communication is important in all relationships because it allows us to share our interests, concerns, and mutual support. It helps us organize our lives and make decisions; and this allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on how we speak and listen, how we react and our body language. We can all learn to improve the way we communicate, because it takes more than words to create a safe, exciting and secure relationship. Too often, the signals we send are not the ones we intend to send, and when that happens, connection and trust are lost in our relationships. When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, the tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don't match our words, it's often body language that is heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is an interactive process that occurs quickly. Being aware and understanding the signals you are sending as well as the signals others are sending and picking up from your body language may not show what you are actually trying to communicate to others in that moment. Given the amount of time my family spent together growing up, you'd think we would have learned to talk to each other somewhere along the way. And even though some families have learned to talk to each other, listen to each other, and respond to each other, mine still demonstrates the Laissez-Faire communication style. My family has always been quite dysfunctional when it comes to communication, or at least that seemed to be the case whenever my mother remarried. After my mother's first marriage, I was labeled an only child after the death of my little... middle of paper ... training, because the only thing that is constant in life is change. I have been shown over the years, through my mother's relationships as well as my own, that poor communication stems not only from the communication styles of those involved, but also from the experiences, beliefs and expectations common areas of the family. Poor communication in today's family can also result from structural and external issues such as the continued loss of jobs which has thrown my family, as well as others, into financial distress and made our lives precarious. Even for families who don't face such immediate stresses as figuring out how to get health insurance without a job or pay rent without income, there are a number of endemic stresses in our society, including the fact that periods governing family structures and responsibilities are far more complex than they should be.