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Pepperdine’s newest convocation series got its first start for the spring semester on Tuesday.
Dr. Charlene Underhill Miller’s “Coping With My Parents 101: Survival Skills For College Students” presented guidelines for establishing healthier relationships between young adults and their parents.
Both a member of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology faculty and a professional therapist working out of practices in Pasadena and Santa Monica, Miller was hand picked as the leadoff speaker.
Pepperdine’s Center for the Family is presenting these programs (running now through March 30th) in an attempt to teach “the keys to healthy relationships with roommates, friends, family members and significant others,” in exchange for convocation credits, the program’s Web site said.
Pepperdine’s Center for the Family has previously been involved with community outreach programs, but starting last semester it introduced an emphasis on relationships right here on campus. 2005’s fall semester yielded four convocations stressing the value of relationships, and because of popular demand, eight more are to be featured this semester.
The convocations this series has produced have proved to be “the most popular,” said Director of the Center for the Family Dr. Dennis Lowe. “Every one held was booked to capacity.”
The popularity of the series is due in part to its capacity to relate to the student audience. Freshman Lindsay Reeder said, “It actually applies to my life.”
“Coping With My Parents 101” consisted of themes of honor, respect, responsibility, communication, and understanding.
Throughout her practice, Miller has found healthy parental relationships are imperative to a healthy lifestyle. “As you walk around, you carry a part of your parents with you,” she said.
Treating both parents of college students as well as college students themselves in her practice, Miller acknowledges the importance of a mutual respect between the two.
She said that the most efficient way to relate to your parents is to understand them first, and that goes for the parents too.
She also encouraged sharing more information with parents than simply responding to the limited amount of questions asked of you. After all, the more they know about you, the better they can react to your needs.
Miller related her own experiences as a daughter, mother and stepmother to the issues today’s college students face. College is a time when “there’s a lot of painful growth going on,” she said.
With more than twenty years of experience as a parent, marriage, and family therapist, Miller holds the value of finding peace with high regard. She urged her audience to “be the change agent within [their] family,” to find peace not only with themselves, but also with their parents and with God.
Ending her talk with a question-and-answer session, Dr. Underhill Miller maintained the importance of audience interaction, closing her speech with “Go to class, eat healthy, and go to bed early!” in that familiar, parental fashion we’ve all grown so accustomed to.
Submitted 01-26-2006
MALIBU, CA
