Strengthening Connection

In this 60-minute presentation, Dr. Jason Whiting, professor and marriage and family therapist, explores why some relationships thrive while others become harmful or disconnected. Drawing on his research and clinical examples, he shares five core dimensions of healthy relationships: honesty, accountability, respect, fairness, and commitment, as well as their damaging opposites. He offers clinical suggestions to help therapists recognize and strengthen these patterns to help couples build closer, more resilient partnerships.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify five core relational practices: honesty, accountability, respect, fairness, and commitment, and distinguish between their healthy and unhealthy expressions in couple relationships.
• Understand how research informs these principles in clinical work with couples.
• Apply a non-pathologizing, systemic lens to assess how interactional patterns contribute to relational distress or resilience in couples.

Who Should Attend:

Mental health professionals, therapists, counselors, and social workers who work with couples and want practical, research-informed tools for identifying and strengthening healthy relational patterns while addressing harmful dynamics.

Meet Dr. Whiting:

Dr. Jason Whiting is a professor at Brigham Young University whose research focuses on strengthening relationships and preventing abuse. He directs a project on healthy and unhealthy patterns, and is the author of many books and scholarly articles on relationships. He teaches courses on addictions, abuse, and qualitative inquiry.