In my previous post, I showed you some examples of silent treatment in marriage and signs of a silents marriage. In this post, you will learn how to deal with silent treatment in marriage. Be attentive as I take you on a journey of resolution, so you can understand step-by-step how to deal with silent treatment in marriage.
Silent treatment can be an upsetting experience, and partners often feel misunderstood, frustrated, and isolated. Meanwhile, navigating through this communication gridlock is not impossible.
You only need to understand root causes and adopt bold approaches to restore peace and harmony to your marriage.
In this step-by-step guide, I will show you some actionable insight on how to deal with silent treatment in marriage. By the time you finish reading this post, you’ll be empowered to overcome this challenge and heal your marriage.
You’ll learn how to cultivate empathy and patience and have open communication. Each of these steps is designed to foster mutual understanding and constructive dialogue.
So, whether you are seeking preventative measures for future conflict or just facing the silent treatment, I will show you some practical tools to navigate this issue. Join me as we take this journey towards a more fulfilling, healthier relationship. Begin by addressing the silent treatment head-on.
Psychology Behind Silent Treatment:
The silent treatment in marriage often comes from unresolved conflicts, underlying emotional issues, or communication breakdowns. This is a passive behavior one partner can use to exert control, manipulate or control the other partner.
Psychologically, it can be a way for the silent partner to avoid confrontation or emotionally protect themselves. However, it is inimical to the relationship. It brings loneliness and resentment to the recipient.
To know how to deal with silent treatment in marriage, you must know how to have open communication and practice empathy and assertiveness. Understand the root cause, set boundaries, and calmly express your concerns.
Couples therapy can also be a good way to address underlying issues and improve your communication patterns. Ultimately, to break the cycle of silent treatment in marriage, it requires that both of you actively work towards it.
How to deal with silent treatment in marriage involves directly confronting the issues, seeing a professional for help, and prioritizing understanding and mutual respect.
We will explain all the strategies one by one.
Let’s get started.
How to Deal With Silent Treatment in Marriage:
Below are a few ways to
These strategies aim to foster understanding, communication, and, ultimately, a stronger bond between partners. Remember, every relationship is unique, so it may take time and experimentation to find the most effective approach for your situation.
1. How To Deal With Silent Treatment In Marriage, Step One.
Hold Your Peace For A While:
The best step on how to deal with silent treatment in marriage is to be calm for a while and calculate what to do and where to start.
By maintaining calmness, you will not only prevent things from escalating, but you will also pave way for a better communication once the silence is broken. The calmness acts as a stabilizing force and it will offer a sense of rationality and assurance amidst tension.
It will allow you to approach the situation with an open mind and enable you to assess your underlying issues and find a constructive way to solve them. Additionally. Being calm not only serves as a foundation to resolve conflicts, but it also fosters healthier relationships built on respect and understanding.
2. How To Deal With Silent Treatment In Marriage, Step Two.
Self-Reflection:
Reflecting on yourself during the silent treatment issue is a very good step. It is very essential that you examine and reflect on your behaviors and actions that might have caused the situation.
As you take time to reflect, you can gain insight on what to do next. This process gives you the opportunity to identify and improve certain areas of your life, improve your communication patterns, and create a supportive marital environment.
3. How to Deal With Silent Treatment in Marriage, Step Three.
Give A Little Space:
How to deal with a silent treatment in marriage is to create space within your relationship so both of you can reflect on your feelings and thoughts independently. By stepping back from interacting with each other, you’ll find time to delve into your emotions and gain clarity and perspective.
Staying apart from each other fosters a sense of autonomy and allows both of you to honor your individual needs and experiences. Moreso, it decreases the potential conflicts that are fueled by emotional intensity.
As you unite, you’ll bring a refreshed mindset, be more receptive, and understand each other’s perspectives to find constructive solutions to your issues. Ultimately, giving space to each other is a nurturing gesture that will strengthen the foundation of trust and mutual respect in your marriage.
4. How to Deal With Silent Treatment in Marriage, Step Four.
Set Your Boundaries:
Setting boundaries around communication expectations is important when you want to prevent silence from becoming a pattern in your relationship.
By clearly showing acceptable forms of interaction and expressing your needs, you can foster healthy communication dynamics. Let your partner know about your boundaries and emphasize the importance of understanding and mutual respect.
Consistently reinforce these boundaries, addressing any deviations promptly and constructively. Ultimately, maintaining open lines of communication while respecting each other’s space is key to nurturing a balanced and harmonious relationship.
How to Deal With Silent Treatment in Marriage, Step Five.
Focus on Solving Your Problems:
When you are having silent treatment in your marriage, it is important to resist the urge to retaliate with the same passive aggressive behavior. Instead, be bent on addressing your issues calmly until the right time comes.
Retaliating with the same behavior will only escalate the matter, prolong the silence, and make it difficult to deal with the underlying issues. Practicing empathy and open communication will lead to constructive resolution and healthier relationships as well.
6. How to Deal With Silent Treatment in Marriage, Step Six.
Avoid Fighting Back:
When you are faced with silence, it is natural to want to fight back with passive, aggressive behavior. However, reacting in that manner will only escalate the situation and make matters worse.
Instead, I advise that you take a step to gradually assess the situation on the ground. Engage in self-reflection so you can understand your feelings and the best ways to address the issues.
Having open communication, being bold when expressing your concerns, and seeking resolution without retaliation will help you. That will foster understanding and promote constructive dialogue.
7. How to Win the Silent Treatment.
Take Care of Those Underlying Issues:
You can’t mention how to deal with silent treatment in marriage and forget to talk about dealing with the underlying issues. Of course, those are the chief courses of silent treatment.
Therefore, I advise you to be calm and work with your partner to identify the underlying issues contributing to the silent treatments and deal with them.
9. How To Win Silent Treatment.
See A Marriage Therapist:
To respond to the silent treatment in a relationship and get results, you may need to see a marriage professional for help. Family therapists are well trained to help couples deal with their issues.
Therefore, when you find that I won’t be easy for you to deal with the silent treatment on your own, it is advisable to see a professional. I have talked extensively on how to locate the best therapist, so read it here.
Effects Of Silent Treatment In Marriage:
Silent treatment can have detrimental effects on marriage; after all, it is a form of emotional abuse, and any abuse hurts the relationship. Research show that it can result to feelings of resentment, loneliness and depression among couples.
According to a study published in the journal “Communication Monographs,” the silent treatment is often used as a way to manipulate or control the other person, eroding trust and intimacy in the relationship.
Statistics also show that silent treatment is becoming alarmingly common. A survey conducted by Stony Brook University showed that 85% of respondents accepted using it in their marriage.
Additionally, the Gottman Institute found that silent treatment is among the four predictors of divorce and that it can severely impact marital stability.
In his words, marriage therapist Lesli Doares says, “The silent treatment can make the recipient feel insignificant and invincible, which is incredibly destructive to any marriage.
Note that silent treatment in marriage can significantly destroy any marriage by creating a feeling of resentment and isolation, which undermines the foundation of intimacy and trust.
Stonewalling VS Silent Treatment:
You may ask if silent treatment in marriage and stonewalling are the same thing. The answer is no. Although both of them involve some level of emotional expression, they are different.
We will look at both of them critically to understand their similarities and differences. Let’s dive in.
Different Intentions:
Stonewalling is just a communication pattern where someone deliberately avoids addressing issues or engaging in dialogue, and it often leads to frustration and communication breakdown. It can start from merely avoiding questions, giving little response or completely shutting down.
On the other hand, silent treatment is a passive treatment behavior that is aimed at causing anxiety by intentionally ignoring the other person.
It is also a form of emotional punishment or manipulation
It’s a form of emotional manipulation or punishment, creating a sense of isolation and power dynamics within the relationship.
When Expressing Emotions:
In stonewalling game, the stonewaller might still show feelings like being angry, mad or by the way they act or talk, even when they are not talking
But the silent treatment partner is totally silent—no talking at all or even using body language. Therefore, silent treatment is a total shutdown of communication without signs or feelings, while some emotions can leak out when it’s stonewalling.
Different communication styles:
A stonewaller can provide uninformative or shot responses, which can aid resolution, but a silent treatment guy will avoid communication entirely, which also makes resolution impossible.
Impacts of Stonewalling or Silent Treatment:
Though stonewalling is challenging, it might still permit a limited amount of resolution. Silent treatment entails a prolonged and deliberate silence of communication that leads to a complete breakdown in understanding.
Conclusion:
Now that you have learned how to deal with silent treatment in marriage, you have got to take action immediately. This will require empathy, patience, and empathy. It is imperative that you identify the root causes of the issue and deal with them. Maintain open communication and prioritize mutual respect and understanding.
As you follow all the steps I have outlined in this post, such as giving space, setting boundaries, and focusing on solving the problem, you can navigate through these challenges.
Keep in mind that seeking professional help from a marriage therapist is also a good step toward addressing underlying issues and improving your communication patterns.
Ultimately, it is through your active effort and mutual cooperation that both of you can navigate the cycle of silent treatment and build a more fulfilling and healthier relationship.