Relationships & Community

We’re made for relationships. It’s knit into our DNA, knit into our purpose. But relationships are a kaleidoscope of emotions. And psychologists Sue Johnson & Jim Furrow are helping us understand more about the science of relationships, the role that emotions play in healing conflict, and how our human connectedness impacts human thriving.

We are made for relationships. And psychiatrist, researcher, and clinical therapist Dr. Dan Siegel (UCLA) has found that emotional realities of our earliest attachment relationships reverberate through the rest of our lives. By opening up brain science and what he calls “interpersonal neurobiology” he’s helping people find emotional healing and wholeness, deep connection, and stable life-giving relationships.

“If your community is not well, then you are not well.” Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra (Fuller Theological Seminary) is an organizer, activist, and pastor whose career has shown how individual thriving is intertwined with collective justice. With respect for marvelous human complexity, she’s encouraging us to get out of our heads and into our bodies and emotions… and is inviting us to compassion for the marginalized, and to ground our spiritual health in our connectedness to the human family, across cultural and economic lines.

Does your Community Support Spiritual Health? Research indicates seven ideals.

What can communities learn from the enormous success of the Eras tour about love, support, and meaning for their members?

Awareness is a practice that allows us to train our mind and body, reorienting to the world around us.

Thrive blogger, Amy Dunn, reflects on the concept of integration and how humans navigate the river of life, avoiding the rocky shores or rigidity and chaos.

What can the church learn from the success of Taylor Swift's Eras tour? This is Part 3 of a 3-Part Series.

What can the church learn from the success of Taylor Swift's Eras tour? Read more in Part 2 of a 3-Part Series.

What can the church learn from the success of the Eras tour? Part 1 of a 3-Part Series.

Dr. Pam King discusses the importance of creating transformative systems that will enable human thriving.

Developing deep bonds with others requires effort. Ask yourself these questions for deeper understanding, and you might feel less lonely.

This practice can help you examine the presence, absence, and quality of the relationships in your life.

Healthy relationships lead to healthy spirituality.

Understanding forgiveness is the first step to giving it. Try the practice here to begin the process.

Explore your attachment style with this exercise.

Understand attachment through this case study.

What do you need to understand about your attachment style?

How do we keep young people engaged in church? This is part 3 of a 3-part series.

When we know love, we can give love.

Why do kids need a community that models love, and what does emotional safety have to do with it. Part 2 of a 3-part series.

How do you find a community to support your family? What kinds of support help families grow spiritually healthy and thrive.

What does healthy spirituality have to do with our relationships? While our capacity for spirituality is hard-wired, our spirituality is in fact mostly developed relationally. We learn our beliefs and practices from others.

Humans thrive within community, but our modern age encourages poor relational habits. Think about the nature of your relationships with the help of the practice in this post.

Thinking through paths out of anxiety and fear   If it rings true for you that you need to train your brain to tone down anxiety and/or discover more about yourself – your sources of love and mattering, and your purposes – find a trusted friend or loved one or a small group and work through some of these questions together.     Getting in touch with love: What are your fundamental beliefs about being loved–for just who you are? Not what you do, but just who you are now?  Pause. Close your eyes, take 3 slow breaths–imagine God is looking at you and beholding you. What does God see? What are God’s yearnings for you right now? How does God desire for you to experience that you are God’s wonderful creation (Psalm 139)?  When do you tend to feel most loved and alive? What kind of pace and space do…

These books are inspiring us right now with their insights about improving the quality of our relationships.

Our relationships are central to our thriving; ideas about how to “clean up” and improve the quality of relationships.  

You can get closer to those you care about with a little practice.

Pamela King reflects on the church of her youth and how it deeply formed her identity, sense of purpose, and belonging.

Dr. Meredith Hope discusses the role of religion in youth thriving and ways caring adults can help enable spirituality in adolescence.

Love is necessary for wholeness. Read how you can get closer to those you care about.

Student researchers share 3 research-based techniques to increase relaxation, support positive behaviors, and create a structured routine for kids.

Student researchers recommend 3 evidence-based interventions that parents can use to help regulate kids' stress and emotions at home.

Dealing with Strong, Mixed Emotions and Moving Forward with a Vision Summary Special guests, Cecilia Sanchez and DACA recipient, Monica Cornejo reconvene with moderators, Lisseth Rojas-Flores and Norma Ramirez to talk about the complexity of the DACA ruling, feeling mixed emotions, and learning how to move forward. Additional Resources Organizations that give opportunities for visits to Mexico using Advanced Parole: US-Mexico Foundation US-Mex Focus How to prepare coming back to Mexico from the US in case that’s an option: It’s Better to Be Prepared Guide (en Español) Educational opportunities and resources (en Español) Re-validating U.S. studies in Mexico (en Español) Cross-border educational opportunities by Arizona State University Educación sin distancia ni frontera by UNAM Organizations built by Dreamers who are back in Mexico:…

Thrive Center on the Supreme Court Decision on DACA Summary With news of the Supreme Court ruling on DACA on June 18, 2020, our moderators, Lisseth Rojas-Flores and Norma Ramirez come together with special guests, Cecilia Sanchez and DACA recipient, Monica Cornejo to process what this decision means for our community. Additional Resources Soy Pan, Soy Paz, Soy Mas by Piero   Author’s Note This presentation is part of our five-week webinar series, DACA Thriving Tuesdays in collaboration with Fuller Theological Seminary. See the full series here.

Nurturing Creativity and Embracing Faith/Spirituality   Summary DACA recipients, Jennifer Hernandez and Julie Kim join our moderators, Lisseth Rojas-Flores and Norma Ramirez to share how embracing their creativity and spirituality have helped throughout their undocumented journeys, particularly as they await the Supreme Court decision on DACA.   Additional Resources Staying Grounded, Connected, and Directed Through Disruption by Pamela Ebstyne King   Author’s Note This presentation is part of our five-week webinar series, DACA Thriving Tuesdays in collaboration with Fuller Theological Seminary. See the full series here.

Engaging Your Community and Seeking Healthy Relationships   Summary Special guest, Rafael Martinez from UndocuTalks joins our moderators, Lisseth Rojas-Flores and Norma Ramirez to discuss the importance of building community and healthy relationships.   Additional Resources Stand By Me in Faith: Mentoring DACA and Undocumented Youth webinar by the Thrive Center Awaiting a DACA Decision Amid COVID-19: Fighting for Human Connection by Norma Ramirez Staying Grounded, Connected, and Directed Through Disruption by Pamela Ebstyne King   Author’s Note This presentation is part of our five-week webinar series, DACA Thriving Tuesdays in collaboration with Fuller Theological Seminary. See the full series here.

Caring for Your Health and Letting Go of Survivor’s Guilt   Summary Our moderators, Lisseth Rojas-Flores and Norma Ramirez emphasize the importance of taking care of our physical and mental health amidst the context we are currently facing and letting go of survivor’s guilt. Guest speaker, Kathia Soltero Calderon joins the conversation to share her experience in navigating through the United States healthcare system as a DACA recipient.   Additional Resources Tips to Mitigate COVID-19 Risk After Protesting by Jessica Malaty Rivera, MS and Jarjieh Fang, MPH Mental Health Connector by Immigrants Rising Latino Therapy Directory 6 Tips for Handling Survivor’s Guilt by Dr. Ellen Hendriksen     Author’s Note This presentation is part of our five-week webinar series, DACA Thriving Tuesdays in collaboration with Fuller Theological Seminary. See the full series here.

Pushing Back Against Unhelpful Thoughts   Summary Lisseth Rojas-Flores and DACA recipient, Norma Ramirez lead the first DACA Thriving Tuesdays webinar, introducing our self-care guide for undocumented individuals with and without DACA and sharing tips on how push back against unhelpful thoughts.   Additional Resources Grief and Mindfulness: The Importance of Checking-In with Your Body by Joey Fung Grief and Mindfulness: How to Manage Your Emotions by Joey Fung 7 Qualities of Mindfulness Trained in the Body Scan by Mindful.org How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation by Therapist Aid 5 Steps to Raise Your Emotional Awareness and Gain Control by Psychology Compass   Author’s Note This presentation is part of our five-week webinar series, DACA Thriving Tuesdays in collaboration with Fuller Theological Seminary. See the full series here.

Guest blogger, Leanne Bishara, discusses how transitioning to high school can be tough on youth. Discover how you can help them academically succeed through a growth mindset.

Grief comes in many forms. Dr. Stephanie Trudeau walks us through the intricacies of grief within our youth.

Research reveals the key characteristics that help mentoring programs effective in fostering youth thriving.

In this part two post, discover how joy can be nurtured spiritually and vocationally in youth.

Learn how you can nurture joy in adolescents through their body senses and relationships.

Teens learn to regulate their emotions by watching adults. Here are 5 parenting tips for modeling healthy emotional expression.

Guest blogger, Leanne Bishara, offers 3 research backed tips for fostering emotional awareness in teens.

Executive director, Pamela King shares the 3 dimensions of religion and spirituality that promote positive youth development.

Summary As undocumented youth with and without DACA continue to experience challenges within the current social-political climate, there is a need for youth practitioners, ministers, and advocates to support them. Scholars, mentors, and DACA recipients discuss the best practices for mentoring them in this webinar. You will learn Insights from leading scholars on research-based best practices for mentoring DACA and undocumented youth. Practical guidelines from DACA recipients and Dreamers, themselves, and their mentors for how to best support these youth in the current social-political climate. Strength-based approaches to advocate and stand by these youth as faith communities.   Author’s Note This webinar was done in collaboration with Fuller Seminary’s Centro Latino and Stars: Illuminate, Educate, Advocate. See full series here.   About the Panelists   Lisseth Rojas-Flores, Ph.D. Lisseth Rojas-Flores is associate professor of clinical psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and a licensed psychologist. Her…

Summary Executive director of the Thrive Center, Pamela Ebstyne King reflects on the “state of perpetual preparation” in American culture, and suggests that formative mission experiences in the context of community can be an opportunity to simultaneously help others and receive formation.   Author’s Note This interview was originally published on FULLER Studio.   About the Author Pamela Ebstyne King Pamela Ebstyne King is the executive director of the Thrive Center and serves as the Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her primary academic interests are applied research at the intersection of human thriving and spiritual development. Dr. King’s work combines theology, empirical research, and community engagement to further understand what contexts and settings enable all people to thrive.

Summary Executive director of the Thrive Center, Pamela Ebstyne King draws on developmental psychology to show how relationships strengthen the process of identity formation. Author’s Note This interview was originally published on FULLER Studio.   About the Author Pamela Ebstyne King Pamela Ebstyne King is the executive director of the Thrive Center and serves as the Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science at Fuller Theological Seminary. Her primary academic interests are applied research at the intersection of human thriving and spiritual development. Dr. King’s work combines theology, empirical research, and community engagement to further understand what contexts and settings enable all people to thrive.

Research by the Thrive Center explores 9 principles that youth organizations can practice to effectively support and help youth thrive.

A student researcher shares the integral role his parents played in fostering positive youth development through sports.

Explore how youth programs can help teens strengthen the developmental assets that contribute to their thriving.

Pamela King explores a developmental systems approach to understanding how ministries can better serve at-risk youth.