Dating and Intimacy

We have been working with dating and intimacy issues since the early days of Social Skills Training in the 1970s. In the 1980s, we have run parallel groups for men and women in Hong Kong. With the development of the SSLD model, we experience renewed interest in the areas. Since December 2009, SSLD workshops and lectures have been delivered in Shenzhen, Beijing, and Toronto. Participants are mainly young people, representing many ethno-cultural groups, profession, and life-styles. With growing interest, we are expecting more action in this area. A potential development is dating programs for baby-boomers and older adults.

Through interacting with participants in different parts of the world, we realize that dating is a game that is heavily conditioned by social and cultural forces. Following SSLD principles, we encourage participants to first gain a good understanding of their own particular needs, circumstances, and personal preference. We take the socially-given rules as contingent and malleable. The most important point is for people to negotiate relationships that are personally gratifying. In March 2017, the massive open online course (MOOC) The Arts and Science of Relationships: Understanding Human Needs was launched on Coursera.