Positive relationships with family members, friends, and your community are beneficial to your overall health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that social connectedness promotes making healthy choices plus the ability to cope with anxiety, depression, stress, and trauma.

Valentine’s Day, a holiday centered around romance and relationships, is a great reminder to check in with the state of your overall social wellbeing.

Your Social

Check-Up

Just as you gain a better understanding of your physical health and wellbeing through regular check-ups with your provider, you can learn to better understand your social wellbeing by checking-up and checking-in on how you approach your interactions with others. How relational we are with others stems from our ability to listen to others, empathize, and be present when we interact.

Below are several communication skills to practice to create or improve positive social interactions:

Not sure where you stand with how you relate to others? A good place to start in building awareness is with some of these common daily occurrences that can highlight areas where there’s room for improvement.

Tips for Building Relationships

If you’ve checked-in honestly with yourself and you’re looking to commit to improving your social wellbeing, it’s important to focus on small, manageable actions and goals that overtime can build into larger change. Try out a few of the following tips to help build social connections and put your skills into action:

It’s never too late to start building relationships and your social circle. It’s okay to take baby steps at first.

(Jacquelyn Baker, LCSW, is with UPMC Behavioral Health and sees patients at UPMC Williamsport Divine Providence Campus, 1100 Grampian Blvd., Williamsport. For more information, visit UPMC.com/BehavioralHealthNCPA.)