Communication and Men's Emotional Needs in a Relationship

We often hear or read about what women want, what women want to hear or the dozens of other variations of how to please or appease a women's needs. But what about men? We rarely read about what men want to hear from women. Women often question men's emotional needs and frequently reduce the essence of men to having one thing on their minds, all the time! Evolutionary psychology has proven otherwise.

Men have emotional needs too, albeit not as much as women. Before we consider what your man would like to hear from you, let's first consider the most vital key to proper communication; effective listening. Although we're discussing what your man wants to hear from you, we also want to ensure that when your man does communicate - even though it may be on rare occasions - that you're able to detect what he truly wants to hear from you. God gave all of us two ears and a single mouth so that we may hear twice as much as we speak! Effective listening will enable you to pick up on those warning signs that his emotional needs are not being met.

Women, you often ask your men to be more in touch with their emotional side, well here ya go! Here are five things your man wants to hear from you!

1. "I'll support you in any endeavor you choose." We've all heard the saying: Behind every good man, there's an even greater woman. Well, we're not insisting you stay behind your man, but as the song goes, "Stand by your Man," that's all we ask. Support us in what we set out to accomplish and you'll be amazed at what we can do when a woman we love dearly accepts and encourages us in every which way. This segue ways into the next thing we'd love to hear from a woman.
2. "I accept you and all that you are… and I do mean all! Acceptance from a loved one outside of our immediate family, for many of us, is the essence of a romantic linkage, and yet many relationships fail for this very reason, due to couples not accepting each other in every shape or form. Don't try and change your man. Accept him for who he is, or move onto someone more compatible. Thinking of him as a pet-project to place your passion into molding him will only drive him away, whether it's emotionally (likely to occur first) or physically.
3. "We are a team, baby!" A romantic connection, much like any other relationship, should be built upon the foundations of solid communications, mutual missions and a shared vision. It's a tough world out there, and yet it only seems to get increasingly tougher. Just because we're men doesn't mean every ounce of burden should be placed upon us, even though at times we insist it! Sometimes, we simply want to hear you say things that elicit an intangible bond, which if shaped properly, is unbreakable.
4. "You are hot (and I mean it)!" Let's face it - everyone - men and women love to get checked out, and getting checked out and being reassured that not only have you been checked out but the beholder endorses you with a resounding stamp of approval, feels great! In fact, it's a feeling unlike many others … and when a random, spontaneous statement such as, "Babe, you look hot today," is often much better than the ubiquitous, "I love you," or the heaven forbid humdrum line of, "You look good."
5. "I love you no matter what." Hearing the words "I love you" from the (special some) one you love has become expected. It's common usage and over usage has, in some contexts, made it a loaded phrase. Do all who use it truly know the phrases implications? Or have our standards of love lessened in these harrowing global times? Society projects many roles men must follow and fit into, or at least are implied. We're forced to make grand attempts and take major risks. We feel the need to do all these things, and somewhere in the back of our minds, is the possibility of failure. Most men - scratch that - anyone would want to hear, from their loved ones, that they will be loved no matter what the outcome of any given situation is. Even if they have failed. This is the hallmark of unconditional love... the truest and arguably the only form of love.

From a woman's perspective within the context of her current relationship, many of these may be tough to genuinely say, and yet the thought of saying them may very well be a test to determine whether your current relationship is as significant as you thought.