CENTER FOR RELATIONSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Les Parrott and Leslie Parrott, Directors
Even more than academic standing, career prospects, and earnings
potential, students are concerned about establishing healthy relational
roots. They want to break the cycle of soured relationships
they have frequently witnessed and experienced among family or
friends. In what may be a first for an American educational institution,
Seattle Pacific University established the Center for Relationship
Development (CRD) to help students learn to build healthy,
lasting relationships. Initially funded by grants from the Murdock
Charitable Trust, the Center is dedicated to fostering positive relationships,
whether they be with classmates, roommates, parents,
teammates, siblings, bosses, or potential marriage partners. The
Center aims to solve relationship problems before they begin. Its
efforts focus on three major areas: education, outreach, and
research.
Education. Along with the Department of Psychology, the Center for Relationship Development
annually sponsors two academic courses in relationship development.
Relationship Development I focuses on practical principles
for building healthy relationships. The class addresses such issues
as the meaning of friendship, gender differences, family-of-origin
concerns, unconscious relationship needs, and the dating process.
Relationship Development II is an advanced course presenting a
practical basis for making healthy relational commitments. It
focuses on such topics as love, intimacy, mate selection, and the
meaning of covenant relationships.*
Outreach. The Center for Relationship Development also sponsors
special programs designed to meet specific relationship needs.
These include the following:
- Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts (SYMBIS). This
marriage preparation workshop is offered each spring for
engaged and newlywed couples. Topics include "The Myths
of Marriage," "Sexuality and Marriage," "Fighting the Good
Fight," and "Money Matters."
- The Marriage Mentor Club. A unique feature of the
SYMBIS program links participants to married couples who
serve as mentors during the newlywed's first married year.
- Relationship Emphasis Week. Each spring, the Center
invites a nationally recognized speaker to campus for a series
of presentations on relationship issues. Featured guests have
included Stephen Arterburn, author of Addicted to Love, and
Lewis Smedes, author of Caring and Commitment. Activities
that focus on relationships during this week include Chapel,
group, leadership forums, and faculty luncheons.
Research and Evaluation. The CRD conducts ongoing
scholarly research on relationship issues and puts that information
to work in its education and outreach efforts. It also
continuously evaluates its programs to ensure their
effectiveness.
*Note: Both Relationship Development I and II must be successfully completed for
grades if the student desires to apply these courses toward a psychology
major or minor.
