Three Types of Destructive Communication (Part 1)

One of the best ways to improve family communication is to identify, and then remove, the unhealthy forms of communication that have wormed their way into our lives. Many of these come from childhood experiences. Others arrive, slowly but steadily, as relationships develop.

All are destructive.

Silence: Rather than talking about issues and resolving them within a healthy relationship, many people use silence to both punish and intimidate their spouses and families. When tension or conflict arises—especially when anger is present—the healthy thing to do is sit down and talk before things get out of hand.

In a marriage and family, silence is dangerous. Not only is it anti-social and non-relational, but it practically guarantees prolonged problems. I have counseled many adults whose lifelong emotional problems and pain come from homes in which one or both parents used silence to punish and control.

Verbal Abuse: Cursing. Name-calling. Intimidation. Are these common in your home? What about statements like “You’re stupid” or “You’ll never amount to anything” or “I wish you were never born”?

There are two basic levels of verbal abuse in families. The first is between spouses, occurring when husbands and wives get into fights and begin to scream, curse, and belittle each other. This kind of name-calling and verbal abuse often turns into physical abuse.

Not only is it damaging for spouses to speak to each other this way, but it can be incredibly harmful for children to hear their parents talk this way. As a parent, one of your most important roles is to train your children to resolve conflicts through healthy, proper communication.

Another level of verbal abuse is between parent and child. Kids need patient guidance and loving discipline. Praise and positive support are God’s design for raising children, along with fair, consistent, and loving discipline when children willfully disobey.

Verbal assault is the opposite of patient training and loving discipline. Name-calling, shame, intimidation and cursing should have no place in a nurturing, God-honoring environment. It is verbal bullying, and it will produce nothing but pain.

Manipulation: A third destructive type of communication is verbal manipulation, using words to gain advantage over another. Manipulation involves dishonesty and partial truth for another person’s advantage. It is always done in a selfish way.

Rather than an honest, humble conversation that seeks to help everyone involved, manipulative communication tilts the scales toward itself while keeping motives hidden. Any relationship marked by this kind of manipulation is founded on mistrust, dishonesty, and exploitation.

These forms of communication—silence, abuse, and manipulation—are extremely destructive in a marriage and family.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue (Prov. 18:21). Are you speaking words of destruction, or words of life?