Relational communication (theory into practice)

Your final project is one that involves applying what you know about a particular topic to couples (or other relationships) that are having difficulty. More specifically, you need to choose a topic that couples often have difficulty with in real life and for which they may seek counseling. This topic may be one discussed in class, but it may be one we haven’t touched on (e.g., research on conflict). You need to review the literature and become an expert in this topic area and write a paper that would assist counselors in helping couples facing this issue. Your project should include a literature review of outside scholarly articles (approximately 4 double spaced pages), as well as activities that counselors could do with the couples to help them better manage this problem (approximately another 2 pages). Try to “think outside the box” on this project and create your own activities. What might be some innovative ways couples (or people in other interpersonal relationships) can resolve this problem that are communication based? For instance, not many counselors have couples audio or videotape some of their typical interactions. What might couples gain by videotaping themselves and analyzing how they communicate with one another? Oftentimes people aren’t aware of how they communicate with one another and the underlying sources of the problem.

Thus, the GOAL of your project is to (1) identify a common problem or issue that couples (or other interpersonal relationships) face, (2) understand the literature on this topic or issue, (3) provide various activities or exercises that you could recommend to counselors for couples to engage in to help them better communicate with one another about this issue, and (4) provide a rationale for why you think these activities would be effective.