DMACC’s counseling offices offer opportunities for DMACC students to attend workshops that aim to assist college students. This month, in time for Valentine’s Day, counselors Erin Borchardt and Sunny Duffney held a workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 11, with the goal of teaching students the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships and what to do if one finds themselves in an unhealthy relationship.
These workshops are generally hosted once or twice a month, with many of the previous workshops being available to view online. You can find the information about these workshops on the DMACC counseling website: https://my.dmacc.edu/pages/counseling-events.
Borchardt explained that the events have been hosted by DMACC longer than she has been working at the college. When asked why the campus hosts these events she responded that the counseling office wants to cover topics that help students and provide students with the sense that they do not have to be alone when dealing with the struggles faced in college. The attendance for these workshops ranges from five to 30 attendees and Borchardt said, “We would love for more students to attend.”
The workshop was all about building healthy relationships while in college. The event started with a presentation that Duffney read through, explaining the signs one should look for while in a relationship. One of the key signifiers that Duffney mentioned was that an unhealthy relationship will feel like you’re “walking on eggshells” trying to avoid doing the wrong thing, while healthy relationships feel like you can be your true self.
“Know yourself before deciding to date,” said Duffney, explaining that having a healthy understanding of who you are is the first step towards making healthy relationships. She suggests asking yourself if you can regulate your emotions and to discover your long-term goals when getting into a relationship. Most importantly she wants you to ask yourself if you have time for a relationship with your busy college schedule. Borchardt and Duffney made sure that all attendees knew that their own personal health – mental and physical, needs to be a major priority for anyone in a relationship. Knowledge of oneself allows the person to realize when things may be turning unhealthy, something that otherwise may be overlooked.
Duffney went on to detail the telling signs that someone could be entering an unhealthy relationship. Some of the things that were pointed out include actions like you or your partner being overly affectionate, planning for things such as marriage or kids soon after dating began, and people being obsessive with their partners, pushing them away from their current friendships. It was explained to me that these actions often go unnoticed as just how people express love, but Duffney wanted it to be known that these signs are important to note. The unhealthy beginning of a relationship can easily progress into something abusive.
The counselors wanted to make sure that DMACC students know their services are available for walk-in and scheduled appointments. They also said that the upcoming workshop events could be found on the DMACC website (the link listed earlier directly leads to counseling events). Some classes offer the workshops to be extra credit as well. “These workshops cover very approachable topics and are very relevant. Us counselors are open to feedback and suggestions for topics.”
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