The success of any relationship depends on the ability to communicate well. Communication is important in all relationships as it allows us to share our interests, concerns and mutual support. It helps us organize our lives and make decisions; and allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on how we speak and listen, how we respond and our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate because it takes more than just words to create a safe, emotional and secure relationship. Too often the signals we send are not the ones we mean to send, and when this happens we lose both connection and trust 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 show a message. If our feelings don't match our words, it's often body language that is heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the signals you may be sending along with the signals others are sending and picking up from your body language, may not show what you are actually trying to communicate to others at that moment. Given how much time my family spent together growing up, you'd think we would have learned to talk to each other somewhere along the way. And although some families have learned to talk, listen, and respond to each other, my family still demonstrates the Laissez-Faire communication style. My family has always been pretty dysfunctional when it comes to communications, or at least it seemed that way every time my mother remarried. After my mother's first marriage, I was called an only child after the passing of my little... middle of paper... shape, because the only constant thing in life is change. I have been shown over the years through my mother's and my own relationships, that poor communication does not just stem from the communication styles of the people involved, but from the common experiences, beliefs, and expectations of the family. Poor communication in today's family can also stem from structural and external issues such as continued job loss that has pushed my family, as well as others, into financial difficulty and made our lives precarious. Even for families who are not facing immediate stresses such as obtaining health insurance without a job or paying rent without an income, there are a number of stresses endemic to our society, including the fact that the rules that govern Family structures and responsibilities are much more complex than they should be.