Nix the Mind-Reader Approach
The key to any relationship is communication, communication, and
communication! So what happens when your significant other
simply thinks you can read everything that they are thinking? It
happens all the time. By excluding details of a situation one
side of the relationship can subliminally create a war of words
and automatically be armed with the dreaded "you don't
understand me" attack. "Mind-reader" syndrome conquers many
couples without them even knowing it. Day to day social
interaction often pits feelings against assumptions. When this
happens it often means that one individual may be suppressing
his or her feelings, causing a lack of communication skills.
People exhibiting these problems are everywhere and simply
believe that their partner just magically knows the way they
feel all of the time. The ability to love or be loved does not
grant mystical powers to read minds or feelings to anyone in a
relationship. Often just explaining your needs and thoughts
clearly can prove to be a start in solving the mind-reader
syndrome.
Solving the problem completely can be a unique and difficult
problem. Use the list below to help focus, and determine the
root of the mind-reader problem. Ask yourself these questions
whenever disagreements surface. Clarifying your own needs can
lesson or prevent additional problems in the future as well as
increasing past problems that still linger.
Consider these questions:
1. What am I feeling at this exact second?
2. What do I want my partner to know at this particular second
that they might not realize?
3. What are the things I am assuming now and up until now?
4. Is anything about how I act immature? Does the tone in my
voice or subtle actions deflect and reroute my true feelings?
Does my partner misinterpret what I really mean?