Relationships with other people are an important component of a healthy lifestyle.

Michael Warner, a licensed clinical professional counselor with the counseling center, will give a presentation dealing with relationships at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Effingham room of the Martin Luther King, Jr. University Union.

“It’s going to be basically on relationship building,” Warner said of the presentation, entitled “Dr. Phil Doesn’t Know It All!”

The presentation will include tips on how to improve current relationships and how to deal with breakups. The center offers counseling to those who are having a hard time getting over a bad breakup, advice on how to relieve relationship-related stress and couples counseling.

How we relate to other people is very important, said Steve Scher, an associate psychology professor.

“Relationships are a very important part of our lives,” Scher said. “(Not only romantic relationships but) friendships, as well.”

People are happier and healthier when they have healthy relationships with others, Scher said.

“College relationships are much different from marital relationships and high school relationships,” Warner said.

The presentation will be “more focused toward college students who aren’t married and have either their first long-term relationship or relationship away from home,” he said.

Marital relationships involve more responsibility when couples live together, have kids together and share financial responsibility, Warner said.

There are different components to different kinds of relationships, Scher said.

One difference is the maturity level of the partners involved. Also, the goals each partner brings into a relationship can have a big impact on the relationship, he said.

In high school relationships, partners feel excitement just to see one another, Scher said.

“There’s kind of an emotional and physical passion for one another which increases in college and more so in marital relationships,” he said.

Intimacy, sharing deep emotions and commitment also grow as the partners grow older and more mature to a certain degree, Scher said.

Having the skills and knowing how to deal with a bad breakup is also important, he said. Scher used the example of freshmen who come to college thinking they will maintain their long-distance relationships but end up breaking up around Thanksgiving or Christmas break. A lot of people tend to think that the relationship they are in now is “the one,” but Scher offered a warning.

“You may think that now, but next week, next year, things can change,” he said.

Scher said the presentation will be important because people need to think about how they can improve their relationships, both romantic and friendly.

Warner said his goal is to provide students with the information on how to do so.

“We’re always looking for a better quality of life for our students,” Warner said.