How to Foster Strong Sibling Relationships as an Adult

“To the outside world, we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family, feud and secrets, family, grief, and joys. We live outside the touch of time.” -Clara Ortega

As children, We are either excited beyond belief or miserable beyond repair when our parents come to us and tell us that we will be blessed with a sibling. Depending on which side of the spectrum you are on does not at all determine the relationship that you will have with your sibling in the future, which sometimes ends in sibling rivalry. Sibling rivalry is defined as being discord or competition between siblings. According to Psychology Today, sibling rivalry is reported to be a normal part of growth and development between children. It has been reported that 85% of siblings are verbally aggressive towards one another, and 49% of siblings are physically aggressive towards each other. Sibling rivalry can often be grown out of, but for some can unfortunately last a lifetime. Take a moment to ask yourself if your relationship with your sibling where you would like it to be? Do you wonder what a healthy sibling relationship is? Do you often wonder about how you could be of more support to your sibling or have a stronger connection with your sibling as an adult? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, this blog is for you. In this blog, we will be going over how to foster strong relationships with siblings as adults. It is often most focused on how to foster strong sibling relationships as children, and those relationships as adults can often be cast aside.

To begin, continuing to foster and nurture sibling relationships as adults can be very tricky. It can be difficult as an adult to juggle friends, family, spouses, and children. So we ask ourselves how do we keep all of these relationships strong? Maintaining strong sibling connections as adults is imperative for establishing lifelong bonds with family, as well as for creating the village of support systems. Just like any other relationship as we grow older, the dynamics of our sibling relationships also change. It's important to stay connected and evolve in life through our sibling connections as our world also evolves around us. Even though maintaining these connections can be difficult, it is not impossible.

How to Create Strong Bonds with Siblings

Below are some  tips and strategies for creating strong bonds with siblings into adulthood. These tips can be useful and important to follow to assist with maintaining your relationships with each other and as a family as a whole. 

1. Communication: Communication is one of the most important aspects of any relationship and continues to be one of the most important parts of our sibling relationship. We evolve through our lives, we often lose touch and stop communicating as much with our siblings. Making a conscious effort to communicate regularly is essential for staying connected as a family. Social media and electronics have made it easier for us to stay connected through phone calls, video chats and sending each other memes and TikTok videos from time to time. Even when a full-blown conversation isn't possible, small little chats or check-ins throughout the day are better than no communication at all. 

2. Active Listening: Active listening is another healthy component of maintaining strong relationships with siblings. Being able to listen to understand and validate each other's perspectives even when you don't agree will assist with creating strong vans with your siblings as adults. 

3. Plan a Sibling Night: Spending time together is another aspect of sibling bond strengthening that is important. As adults, we strive to spend time with one another, but it can be very difficult so scheduling sibling nights can assist with staying connected and in touch and spending quality time with one another.

4. Celebrate Milestones and Accomplishments: Transitions, milestones, personal and professional growth and accomplishments are an easy way to stay connected and celebrate to show compassion, kindness, and empathy towards your sibling and their goals. Celebrating milestones and accomplishments are a great way of supporting one another as well. 

5. Forgiveness: Letting go of the past and accepting what has happened is one of the most important aspects of maintaining and creating a strong sibling bond. Also if needed, discussing past hurts and coming up with a solution for how to prevent them from happening again can be useful for maintaining your sibling bond.

We hope that you found some helpful tips on how to enhance your relationship with your siblings. Tips such as communication, active listening, quality time, celebrating milestones, and accomplishments, and forgiveness are all very useful for achieving your sibling relationship goals!

For more resources like this, please check out our other tips here: https://www.plantationcounseling.com/blog. You can always find us at 954-903-1676 for counseling services.