ETSU students will be able to learn how to get the love they want in a program starting this Valentine’s Day.
“I went through a divorce a number of years ago,” said program creator David Roche. “It was a horrible experience, and the first thing I wanted to do was find out why. So I did a lot of research … and eventually I took a course to become a certified marriage educator.”
Roche said he brought the Getting the Love You Want workshop to ETSU when he moved to Johnson City and started guest lecturing at the university.
“Through different contacts I was able to do a guest lecture in marketing,” Roche said. “Now I’m an adjunct professor in marketing. Similarly, through other contacts, I was able to get this program started. I’m hoping to do it as long as I can.”
Roche’s main goal of the workshops is to help spread knowledge to couples.
“The biggest problem that anybody has going into a committed relationship is the lack of knowledge,” Roche said. “We have no clue what we’re getting into. We’ve seen our parents, maybe we’ve seen our aunts and uncles, but we really don’t understand the dynamics of a relationship.”
The program will last for eight weeks and some of the topics that will be covered are how your childhood relates to your relationship, the unconscious and conscious mind and the stages of a relationship.
“We talk about the romantic stage and the power stage,” Roche said. “Then when you get through the power stage successfully, you get to real love. In my first marriage I got stuck in the power stage. I’m now in the real love stage with my second wife, because we know what’s going on.”
Roche said that his goal is to help students realize what makes up the dynamics of a healthy relationship.
“I’m a maniac with a mission,” Roche said. “If I can help every student on campus, if I can help everyone in Johnson City, that’s what I’m up to.”
