On Thursday, Feb. 26, the Tri-Valley Haven hosted a healthy relationships workshop during ACCESS in the Amador Valley Wellness Center. The workshop included student-led discussions, fun activities, and an opportunity for students to win prizes and candy. It also educated them on the importance of relationships. These ACCESS periods will continue to the rest of the year.
“We have resource people [Tri-Valley Haven Representatives] coming in during access period and, well, the broad themes and topics are on healthy relationships, boundaries, what are the red flags and the green flags in relationships, and how do you take care of all types of relationships, friendships, and romantic relationships with your parents. So it’s basically providing a safe space for students to learn about relationships,” said Wellness Center Organizer Shaistha Kubra.
An Experience with a Lasting Impact
The Tri-Valley Haven’s goal is to provide support for those facing challenging emotional issues as well as educate the community on what a peaceful society looks like. The healthy relationships workshop is an event meant to allow students to learn about relationships in a way that leaves an impact.
“ Student-led discussions are really important because a lot of times you’re in school, right? You’re sitting in a classroom, teachers talking to you, teaching you. So a lot of times students may feel like their voices are not heard or maybe aren’t as important. Maybe they don’t hold a lot of value because they’re not the teacher or they’re not an educator. So having student-led discussions is really important because we really get to the bottom of it. how do we really feel? What are students really feeling? What are they experiencing? And are we all experiencing it together?” said Tri-Valley Haven Representative Heydi Lopez.
The Power of Healthy Relationships
Keeping good relationships can reduce stress, helping with daily and academic life, according to Harvard Health. During the workshops, students discussed healthy habits in a variety of relationships, as well as the impact of social media on these relationships.
“A healthy relationship to me is like… I guess like just making sure both of us like communicate like just have that like just have that thing where you just like communicate like your thoughts and stuff like well don’t hide nothing just like you make each other like a better version of yourselves. I feel like that’s what a healthy relationship to me is” said Daniyal Farooqui (‘27).
One Step at a Time
The healthy relationships workshop moves the organization one step closer to their objective of a peaceful community and helping the community with emotional affairs by giving them the support they need.
“We’re here in the Tri-Valley, so we’re here for support. If anyone is experiencing an unhealthy relationship, an unhealthy friendship, no question is too small. No issue is too small. Whatever it is, if you think you need support, if you think you just want to talk about it with somebody, you don’t necessarily want to do counseling, but you just want to talk it out, always feel free to call that crisis line” said Lopez.
