The strength of communication Published Dec. 22, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Alexa Culbert Airman 1st Class Alexa Culbert MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Most families experience growing pains when it comes to communication, whether it's learning how to express their feelings with each other or dealing with a teenager going through adolescence. The staff at the Family Advocacy Program here helps Airmen and their families to understand the importance of effective communication and provides them with the communication skills needed to retain healthy personal and professional relationships. Their mission is to prevent, intervene and provide treatment for family maltreatment. Family maltreatment is the physical, emotional, sexual abuse or neglect of an adult partner or child. Ineffective communication doesn't just affect Airmen's family lives and personal relationships; it can also have detrimental effects on their professional relationships and the mission. "It's important for Airman to have healthy communication skills to have healthy relationships," said Dr. April Jones, 42nd Mental Health Family Advocacy outreach manager. "Ineffective communication skills can impede the mission. For instance, when you have family maltreatment in the form of emotional abuse in your life, it can make it difficult to focus on your job, which can have a negative impact on the mission." Emotional abuse is connected to ineffective communication because it is verbal and often consists of insults, humiliation or "mind-games" to control another person, she said. People learn to communicate in childhood from their parents, family members, friends and school. Whether the communication skills learned are effective or ineffective will become that person's way of communicating with others. "We are all products of our environments or products of how we were raised," said Beverly Lesyea, Family Advocacy Program officer. "We often repeat the same behaviors we saw or experienced in our own families." The first step in resolving family communication issues is to realize there is a problem and to take the necessary steps to make a change. "Change is hard, and it is always easier to do what we know or what feels 'normal' to us. Personal insight or awareness often comes when the individual doing the negative behavior experiences it themselves," said Lesyea. "And numerous communication classes are a great place to start improving or changing your communication patterns." Parenting training is available at the Family Advocacy Program and is free to anyone with access to the base. Training available include Active Parenting of Teens, which educates parents how to effectively communicate with their teens, and Love and Logic Parenting, which teaches parents how to use practical techniques for appropriate disciplining of children. The program also mentors families who are going through difficult times or who are living in abusive environments. Usually, the abusive environment is the result of poor communication skills within the family. "Alleged abusers of family maltreatment don't always know that what they're doing is unhealthy; it is usually a learned behavior that becomes their norm," said Jones. "So, it's our job to raise awareness and educate people about the different types of family maltreatment that a person can be exposed to in a relationship. Prevention is key. If you learn what constitutes family maltreatment and learn how to effectively communicate, then a person may prevent having miscommunication in their personal life and work environment." Other evidence-based training provided by the Family Advocacy Program includes Couples L.I.N.K.S, which teaches couples how to keep their relationships strong and identify potential unhealthy behaviors before they become issues of family maltreatment; Anger Management, which teaches individuals how to identify their anger triggers and how to manage them to better their quality of life; and Operation Restoration, which was designed by the Air Force to provide education about family maltreatment and life skills that can enhance personal well-being of self and others. For more information, contact the Family Advocacy Program at 953-5430/5055.