Unit 1 Section 1 Exercise 1 Thinking about relationships

Overview: This exercise explores the tension between human isolation and the need for connection. Tapping into a person's essential loneliness and need for connection forms the basis of all healing relationships. The clinical correlate gives one example of a study that links health outcomes with social support. How partnership, intimacy and social support affect health outcomes is the subject of ongoing research. The correlate includes suggestions for study topics.

This exercise has 3 parts: you will read a poem, view a photograph and link to a painting. Read and respond to Anne Sexton's poem, "The Touch," Baasch's photograph, "Repetition," and the accompanying audio comments. Write your response to the discussion questions following the poem and the photo respectively. After each writing, link to the respective quotes from Lewis' A General Theory of Love, and add another sentence to your initial notations to incorporate any insights you gained from Lewis. Then, use the deathbed exercise as a starting point to reflect on why relationships are important.

Clinical correlate 1: Health outcomes and relationships