Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
September 24, 2025
Listening Skills Make Couples 43 Times More Likely to Thrive
TLDR
- Couples who master listening skills gain a 43x advantage in achieving thriving relationships compared to those who struggle with communication.
- Oliver Drakeford Therapy's research shows good listening increases emotional connection by 17x and meaningful conversations by 12x through evidence-based communication techniques.
- Strong listening skills create foundations for trust and emotional closeness, making relationships more fulfilling and reducing the number of couples who give up on improvement.
- Partners who listen well make their significant others 6 times more comfortable expressing emotional needs, transforming relationship dynamics through simple but powerful communication shifts.
Impact - Why it Matters
This research matters because it provides concrete, data-driven evidence that listening isn't just a soft skill but a fundamental predictor of relationship success. In an era where relationship dissatisfaction contributes significantly to mental health issues, family breakdowns, and overall life dissatisfaction, understanding that simple communication improvements can yield exponential benefits is transformative. The findings offer hope that couples don't need complex interventions to see dramatic improvements—focusing on basic listening skills can prevent the emotional and financial costs of relationship breakdown. For individuals feeling disconnected in their relationships, this research validates that small, consistent changes in communication patterns can lead to profound intimacy improvements, potentially saving relationships before they reach crisis points.
Summary
New research from Oliver Drakeford Therapy reveals groundbreaking findings about the transformative power of listening in relationships, showing that individuals with partners who possess strong listening skills are an astonishing 43 times more likely to be in "thriving relationships." The data, drawn from over 1,300 couples participating in the practice's couples intimacy quiz, demonstrates a dramatic shift from just 1 in 70 couples to nearly 2 in 3 achieving relationship success when effective listening is present. Clinical Director Oliver Drakeford, whose expertise has been featured in HuffPost and The Zoe Report, emphasizes that these findings confirm what his team of couples therapists has observed clinically for years—that lasting intimacy fundamentally depends on communication patterns where true listening creates the foundation for growth, trust, and deeper emotional closeness.
The research identifies several key metrics that underscore listening's critical role: people with good listener partners are 17 times more likely to feel "very emotionally connected," experience deep, meaningful conversations 12 times more frequently, and are 6 times more comfortable expressing emotional needs. Alarmingly, the study also reveals that 75% of couples score below the healthy relationship threshold, highlighting the urgent need for professional intervention before relationships reach the point where 1 in 9 participants report giving up on improvement. Oliver Drakeford Therapy offers specialized services including couples counseling, communication coaching teaching the "listening to learn" approach, conflict resolution skills, and inclusive LGBTQ+ couples therapy in West Hollywood, with couples interested in improving their communication encouraged to download a free relationship skills ebook.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by 24-7 Press Release. Read the original source here, Listening Skills Make Couples 43 Times More Likely to Thrive
