On Friday the Marriage Foundation welcomed Professor Galena Rhoades of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver for lunch and a talk about her recent research. The event was attended by specialists in relationships research and others who are active in the field. It was held at the London offices of Killik & Co.

Sir Paul Coleridge with Professor Galena Rhoades and Harry Benson.

Professor Rhoades is a close associate of Professor Scott Stanley, also of the University of Denver. Professor Stanley was the keynote speaker at a conference organised by the Relationships Foundation and 2-in-2-1 two years ago, chaired by Sir Paul Coleridge. His blog, “Sliding vs Deciding” is availble here, and we would highly recommend it.

Professor Rhoades is a Research Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Denver and one of the team that direct the Centre for Marital and Family Studies, indisputably one of the most respected relationship research centres in the world.

Professor Rhoades’s speciality is romantic relationship development and functioning, and the implications of this for children and adults. Her many research projects include studies on commitment, cohabitation, infidelity, relationship processes and psychopathology, military families, adolescent and child adjustment, and the effectiveness of preventive relationship interventions for couples and individuals.

One of the most impressive features of the work in Denver is that the they’re not just interested in pure research; their work is also intensely practical, developing intervention programmes to enhance the quality of marital and family relationships

So, in addition to conducting research, Dr Rhoades works with the internationally known and respected Prevention and Relationships Enhancement Programme (known as PREP) in the development of relationship education curricula (for example, the highly successful Within My Reach and Within Our Reach programmes). A particular interest in this applied work is the prevention of intimate partner violence through community-based relationship education. She also teaches graduate courses and supervises doctoral students on their therapy cases in the Psychology Department, and is a practicing psychologist.

Sir Paul Coleridge, Professor Galena Rhoades and Rachel Gardner of Romance Academy

We hope to have more resources from her talk available on our website soon.