Building Healthy Relationships Workshops

The Building Healthy Relationships Workshop began in 2005. It was initiated from a support group for men going through relationship breakdown, where the men posed the questions, “Why aren’t these skills being taught in the community?” and “Why wait until our relationships have broken down?”

Today the workshop teaches skills that are not just aimed at the marriage relationship, but aimed at the foundation of all relationships – personal, family, marriage, platonic and professional. Each day we interact with others around us in our personal and professional worlds. We form a relationship with each person we meet but some relationships seem to work better than others. Some are hard work, some are heartbreaking, others seem simply to work. Building Healthy Relationships aims to provide you with the tools to build healthy relationships in everyday living by increasing your understanding of yourself and others, and your understanding of relationship dynamics and the foundation of building healthy relationships.

The Workshop covers the following topics:

• What is a relationship?
• Defence systems
• Conflict and conflict resolution
• How I see the world and how that impacts my relationships (belief systems)
• What do I bring to my relationships?
• Boundaries in relationship
• Recognising behaviour types in yourself and others

Each evening comprises a teaching component and an interactive discussion time to explore and develop new skills. There will be time to question and practice what you are learning, with each week building upon the topic of the previous session.

Feedback from previous workshops:

• "Helpful material - I've been able to practice what I have learnt."
• "Good to hear how other people feel and how they would react in certain situations."
• "Very good to hear others experiences and thoughts"
• "Good to remember everyone is challenged by 'how to relate' and it is a matter of how we respond to that challenge"
• "I really identified many personality traits of my own that could help or hinder my relationships"
• "I'm thrilled that I am now more aware of my own behaviors."
• "Particularly it has made me more aware of my feelings, behaviors, attitudes and beliefs that underly them."
• "Was good to discover more about myself."
• "Was helpful in terms of communication (how too) and identifying personal strengths and limitations."
• "Really good environment, felt comfortable to ask questions and discuss issues."
• "Really insightful, enjoyable, found it clear and easy to understand. Appreciate the practical nature of the course."
• "It all made sense - it was good to see it actually organised and written down (power point and handouts) Made it easier to understand."