Published: February 07, 2008 11:49 am         

Dr. Love

• OSU offering ‘relationship checkups’ through campus Center for Family Services

February is commonly referred to as the “month for love” and Oklahoma State University is offering two sources to help couples deal with love and relationships and possibly improve them.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, a free relationship checkup will be offered at the Center for Family Services on Feb. 13 and 14.

The checkup will help couples identify their strengths and work areas in their relationships and also identify issues that may arise unexpectedly in these relationships. A therapist will then present options for dealing with these issues.

Couples will complete a brief questionnaire based on the “Prepare/Enrich” couple assessment, covering categories such as resolving conflict, financial issues, communication, sexual attitudes, partner’s personality and behavior, children and parenting, household responsibilities, religion and marriage.

Following the assessment, couples will discuss results with a marriage and family therapy intern under the supervision of professors at OSU who are licensed marital and family therapy supervisors.

The relationship checkup will use the Prepare/Enrich couple assessment tools, which is the most widely used premarital/marital assessment. The results of the questionnaire identify issues that are likely to arise in a relationship, and evaluate strengths and work areas of the relationship.

Couples who wish to participate can call the Center for Family Services at (405) 744-5058 for information or appointment.

Checkups will last 45 minutes and appointments are available from 5 until 8 p.m. on Feb. 13 and 14. Dating, engaged and married couples are welcome.

The Center for Family Services is located in 101 Human Environmental Sciences West. Therapists at the center are advanced students in marriage and family therapy who are trained to provide marital and family therapy, including issues related to premarital counseling, couple communication and conflict, sexual difficulties, domestic violence, parenting and discipline of children and adolescents, loss, divorce and blending families, adoption issues, single parenting, depression and other family and individual issues.

The Human Development and Family Science department at OSU is studying how romantic partners respond to one another as they communicate and problem solve.

They are looking for people to participate in a three-hour study and need couples who are 18 years old through 35 years old, in a married or committed relationship. You will be paid $100 for your participation.

This protocol will involve filling out some surveys and actually being hooked up to some physiological equipment that will register heart beat, respiration and other body vitals as the participant discusses such things as communication with their significant other.

     

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