Call for URI lovebirds: university offers student couple therapy clinic

KINGSTON, R.I. (WLNE) — Amid the season of love, the University of Rhode Island is inviting student couples to participate in a free relationship assessment.

The university’s Couple and Family Therapy Clinic urges participants to register and reserve their spots.

Under the supervision of professors in the Dept. of Human Development and Family Science, grad students from the therapy program will be conducting the assessments.

The relationship check-ups will consist of two one-hour sessions.

Each of the individuals in the couple must complete an online relationship evaluation which will determine the couple’s strengths and areas in need of growth.

Counselors will review results with couples and make a customized plan of action following the results.

Couple’s can choose to continue with counseling for a small fee.

Couple and Family Therapy Clinic’s coordinator Gina MacLure emphasized the importance of relationship-health:

“We encourage regular check-ups for physical health, but we do not have any structures in society for check-ups on relationships, which greatly impact mental health and well-being now and possibly for the long term. Strong relationships are protective factors in physical health as well — we want to offer the opportunity to students to assess the health of their relationships so they can have a sense of what they need to work on, talk about or know in order to make a decision about the future of that relationship. We want them to have the knowledge to strengthen that relationship, or the support to leave it for a better one.”

To participate, URI students should call 401-874-5956 to make an appointment.

Sessions begin Feb. 14th and will be offered to the first 15 couples that call.

At least one person from the couple must be a URI student to participate.