THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603010177
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Richard and Louise Fox confirm what most married couples have suspected for years: male and female brains generally operate in very different patterns, leading men and women to view the world in wholly different ways.
Richard Fox, director of the Shepherd's Staff Counseling Center in Virginia Beach and his wife, Louise, manager of the center, have developed a series of marriage and family seminars and workshops, the most popular dealing with communications and marriage enrichment.
Together, the couple will kick off Obici Hospital's spring Prime Time Topics series titled, ``Self Esteem Matters,'' with ``He Said, She Said,'' an entertaining look at gender differences, communication and self-esteem.
Males communicate to make a point; females communicate to discover a point. Male brains tend to process information logically; female brains tend to process information intuitively. Understanding how the opposite sex thinks, handles stress and communicates can foster more harmonious relationships, especially in financial matters or emotional conflicts, the couple says.
``Frequently, we say `You just don't understand,' when the bottom line is we really don't understand,'' Louise Fox said.
The key, Fox stressed, is in being flexible enough to recognize and appreciate gender differences that are biologically as well as culturally determined.
Prime Time Topics is in its fourth year of presenting wellness programs of popular interest. Cheryl Baer, coordinator of Prime Time Topics, said that suggestions from past program participants indicated that stress management and gender differences were two topics they wanted to explore further.
``Our goal is to provide community wellness education that keeps people healthier and out of the hospital,'' she said.
Here is the schedule:
``He Said, She Said,'' Wednesday, Richard and Louise Fox, Shepherd's Staff Counseling Center, Virginia Beach.
``The Queen of Denial,'' addiction and self-esteem, Wednesday, March 13, 6:30 p.m., Virginia Buchanan and Linda Behrens-Hall, RSN, Psychiatric Care Center at Obici and Debbie Evans, MSW, chemical dependency consultant.
``It's My Body, I'll Cry If I Want To,'' body image and self-esteem, Wednesday, Marcy 20, 6:30 p.m. Virginia Buchanan, Psychiatric Care Center at Obici Hospital; Karon Kelley, cosmetologist, Suffolk Beauty Academy; Leah Pixley, aerobics instructor, Obici Hospital neurophysiology department; and Astrid Zuppinger, nutrition manager, Obici Hospital.
``Stretched Thin and Stressed Out,'' stress and self-esteem, Wednesday, March 27, 6:30 p.m. David Pribble, director, the Psychiatric Care Center at Obici Hospital. MEMO: AT A GLANCE
What: Obici Hospital's Prime Time Topics series, ``Self Esteem
Matters,'' kicks off with ``He Said, She Said,'' an entertaining look at
gender differences, communication and self-esteem.
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, followed by ``The Queen of Denial,'' March
13; ``It's My Body, I'll Cry If I Want To,'' March 20; and ``Stretched
Thin and Stressed Out,'' March 27.
Where: Suffolk Holiday Inn
Cost: $5 per session, $15 for series
Call: 934-4999. by CNB