Looking For Love: Workshop Will Teach What To Look For In Relationships

Student Counseling Services are ready to help you go from “just friends” to “happily ever after” with a relational health workshop that promises to help participants find their way. Student Counseling Services will host the event in DeMoss Hall 4162 on Feb. 8 from 6-7:30 p.m.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Student Counseling wants to give students a place where they can learn about the correct ways to seek a romantic relationship.

“It’s around [Valentine’s Day] that students are generally interested in dating or relationships, so it’s a perfect time to address those things that really matter, because we do want it to be something they can relate to,” Samuel Landa, psychology professor and counselor said.

“Relational Health: Looking for the Right Things in Romance” is a part of Student Counseling’s Enrichment Series, which includes workshops on relational, occupational and personal spiritual health. This workshop will be focusing on the positive aspects to look for in a relationship, as well as some of the negative ones to avoid.

“One of the things we see in our office is the confusion around dating, and we often talk about the red flags and what to be mindful of, but we don’t often talk about the good things to look for,” Landa said. “Though we do want to give the red flags, we also want to show what a healthy relationship does
look like.”

The department plans to give a 30 minute presentation on romantic relationships centered around both Galatians 5 and 1 Corinthians 13. They want to emphasize looking at the character of a potential partner, asking questions such as “Are they humble?” and “Are they slow to anger?” They explained that one’s character traits do not typically change over time and stressful situations reveal one’s true character. 

“It’s important to question these things now before it becomes a problem later on in marriage,” Counselor Keaghlan Strasshofer said.

In previous workshops, the department recognized that students enjoyed having a Q&A session. To accommodate this, almost half of the time allotted for the workshop will be dedicated to students asking specific questions about their
concerns. 

“We want to encourage, inform and empower students to make their decisions, but we also want them to have information to be aware of these things and not overthink them,” Landa said. 

Sophomore psychology major Chloe Masters first learned about the relational health workshop from various posters around campus. She has a few specific things she hopes to learn from attending.

“I hope that they’ll touch on what are some red flags in a relationship,” Masters said. “I’m usually pretty good at judging people based on first impressions, but I also hope they’ll talk some about that.”

Although the workshop will be focusing on personal romantic relationships, what students learn can also be applied to their relationships with friends to ensure they are healthy and fruitful.

“It’s important to have the ability to communicate something like that to a friend because it’s not easy, but you will help your friend out a lot,” Landa said. “They (a friend) may not like it, and they can also fear losing their relationship or even the friendship. I’m sure that we’ll address how you can talk about that situation with a friend.”

Other workshops in the Enrichment Series include “Occupational Health: Slowing Down and Setting Boundaries” on March 8 and “Personal Spiritual Health: Sitting Well at the Well” with Dr. Jeanne Brooks on April 12.  More information can be found on the Student Counseling Services website at liberty.edu/students/student-counseling/student-counseling-events/. 

Kicinski is a news reporter.