Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Emotional and Relational Development over the Lifespan (Online)

FLHD 4600-30I

Course: FLHD 4600-30I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: FLHD
CRN: 31194

Course Description

This course examines the powerful role that emotions play in human development and relationships. We study the interplay between relationships and emotions and how understanding this dance can improve and strengthen relationships. Finally, we explore how emotional development and relationships change over the lifespan. (Fall) [Graded (Standard Letter)]

Required Texts

Johnson, S. (2013). Love sense: The revolutionary new science of romantic relationships. Little, Brown and Company.
Kindlon, D. & Thompson, M. (2000). Raising Cain: Protecting the emotional life of boys. New York: Ballantine Books.
or (you need to read either Raising Cain or Reviving Ophelia. Choose one of the two books, you only need to read one of them.)
Pipher, M. B., & Gilliam, S. P. (2019). Reviving Ophelia: saving the selves of adolescent girls. Riverhead 25th anniversary edition. New York City: Riverhead Books.

Siegel, D. J. & Bryson, T. P. (2011). The whole-brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to nurture your child's developing mind, survive everyday parenting struggles, and help your family thrive. Delacorte Press.
Van der Kolk, B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Penguin Books.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you will be able to:
  1. Explain the theory and research on emotional development over the lifespan.
  2. Discover the development of attachment and emotions over the lifespan.
  3. Outline the role of attachment on lifelong relationship development.
  4. Apply research on attachment and emotional development to practice (education, parenting, marital enrichment, therapy).
  5. Investigate and analyze the scholarship on emotional and relationship development over the lifespan.
Assignment Category | CO 1 | CO 2 | CO 3 | CO 4 | CO 5
Reading Reflection Papers |   X  |   X |   X |   X |   X
Reading Discussions |   X  |   X  |   X |   X |   X
Exploring Emotion - The Ten Meter Tower |   |   X  |   X |  | 
Attachment and Emotional Development Self-Assessment  |   |   X  |   X |  | 
How Do I Dance? |   |  X |  X |  | 
Integration and Application Paper |   X |   X |   X |   X |   X

Course Requirements

Assignment Submission and Similarity Check
All papers are turned in through the Unicheck software program. Papers must have a green rating and have a rating of 25% or less to be accepted. Papers that are not rated green or have a rating of 25% or more for similarity will not be accepted for points.
Please read the assignment directions for each assignment in the Modules or Assignment page.
Reflection Papers
Reflection Papers (35% of your grade). You are to complete a typed written reflection paper for every set of readings and videos. Each reflection paper is worth 4 points towards your final grade. There are 13 reflection papers over the semester, so there are 52 points possible.
After reading each set of readings and watching any videos, complete a detailed summary of the main ideas of the chapter and your reactions and thoughts about the reading. The first page should be your summary of the key points found in the readings and the second page should be your thoughts, reactions, and questions that were stimulated by the reading. Specifically, your second page will answer the three discussion questions below.
  1. What did you know about the reading topic before reading these articles/chapters and how did the readings add to your knowledge or understanding?
  2. What did you find most interesting about the reading? Please share what was interesting and why it intrigued you. In other words, after reading the articles/chapters, what do you think would be an engaging discussion question and what are your thoughts about this discussion question.
  3. How might you apply and use what you have learned from this reading?
Reflection Papers should be a minimum of 1,000 words (about two pages). Papers are single spaced with a space between paragraphs. Your summary section or first page should be around 500 words and your second section answering the three questions should be about 500 words. Your total reflection paper needs to be a minimum of 1,000 words. Points will be deducted for papers that: are less than 1,000 words, do not have specific connections to the readings, videos, or notes (a minimum of three connections), do not fully answer the discussion questions, and are not thoughtful or are poorly written.
Reflection Paper Discussions
Once you have completed your reflection paper, please post two comments on the Discussion Board for this discussion. Your first post will be your thoughts, reactions, and questions about the reading and your second post will be copying and pasting a question and your response to one of the discussion questions from your reflection paper.
After your two initial posts, you need to have a minimum of two more comments to other student’s posts. In summary, you will have a minimum of four posts per discussion. You have until when the next reflection paper is due to make comments about the readings and discuss with your online peer learners. Please post your comments and reactions to the chapter no later than the day after the chapter is due so it allows time to discuss and comment before the discussion closes. Please be kind and encouraging in the discussions.
Class Discussions (15% of your grade). Four points will be given for each discussion you participate in Canvas. There are 14 discussions so there are a total of 56 points possible. Your first two posts should be done no later than the day after your paper is due. One post will be your thoughts, reactions, and questions about the reading and one post will be copying and pasting one of your discussion questions and your response from your reflection paper. The discussion questions are the three listed above.
Exploring Emotion - The Ten Meter Tower
Safety is one of our primary needs. Safety in our personal life and safety in our interpersonal lives is foundational to personal growth, attachment, and building intimacy. However, sometimes to grow we need to leave our comfort zones and take risks. Sometimes making choices can come down to a gut feeling or an emotional GO or DON’T Go. The Ten Meter Tower video presents a vivid display of the dance between safety and risk and new opportunities for growth. The video also highlights the role of emotions in decision making.
Write a 1,000 word paper (about two pages) (double spaced, 1 inch margins) covering the following:
  1. What are your personal impressions of this video? How does it make you feel to watch it?
  2. What ideas about emotional development does this video create?
  3. How does the video relate to class themes? For example, principles of emotional development, temperament, emotional attunement, emotion coaching, helping children work through emotions, how emotions influence our decision making, etc. Cover at least two class themes in your analysis.
In the Ten Meter Tower Video there is some profanity that is used out of fear or frustration. You can turn the closed captioning off and not need to read the profanity. You will miss some of the dialogue that is interesting as it relates to course content but you will still be able to see the non-verbal responses of fear and rising up to the challenge.
Attachment and Emotional Development Self-Assessment Paper
Self-awareness is one key to effective social service practice. When working with attachment issues and emotions, it is important to reflect on your experiences and how they impact your development and behavior. For this assignment, you will complete a reflective narrative about your own attachment figures and your subsequent attachment qualities and how your emotional development may impact you as a parent and a social service professional. There are two parts of this assignment. The first is the data collection and the second is your written analysis of how your attachment and emotional development may impact you as a parent and professional.
Part 1: Take the Attachment Styles and Close Relationships Assessment. http://www.web-research-design.net/cgi-bin/crq/crq.pl (Choose option B). You will also analyze your personal and family emotional development using the Modified Adult Attachment and Emotional Development Interview. Since I want you to feel safe and open in exploring your attachment and emotional development you do not have to submit the assessments in Part 1. I will trust your desire to understand yourself.
Part 2: Using your Attachment Styles and Close Relationships Assessment and Modified Adult Attachment and Emotional Development Interview, write a five to six page personal analysis and reflection paper using the criteria below. This paper is double spaced.
Introduction: Spend about one page summarizing the key themes and findings you discovered through taking the Attachment Styles assessment and completing the Attachment and Emotional Development Interview.
Body of your Paper: After your summary, discuss the following questions, please use headings for each question: 1) How might your attachment style relate to your working alliance with clients or your personal relationships? 2) How might your attachment style and your emotional development relate to transference and countertransference issues with clients? 3) How might your attachment and emotional development relate to your ability to manage ruptures and repairs? 4) What have you learned about yourself from your attachment and emotional development analysis that you can continue to develop that will allow you to be fully present in both your personal and professional life? (one half of a page to one page per question)
Summary and Conclusion: 1) Summarize the main themes you learned through your analysis and 2) the principles and practices you will use in your personal and professional life from what you have learned (one half of a page to one page).
How Do I Dance?
This assignment analyzes how you engage in relationships and the dynamics of your emotional connection and personal patterns of interaction. This assignment has a few experiential activities and personal assessments that help you understand principles such as synchrony, emotional attunement, bidding, and pursuer-withdrawal patterns that are part of how you "dance" in close relationships. Complete the How Do I Dance Assessment and write a five to six page paper on your skills and processes for creating connection in your relationships. This paper is double spaced. Please use headings based on the rubric sections to make it easier to grade your paper. For example: Introduction, Flat Face or Synchrony, Bidding, My Dance, Summary or Conclusion.
Final Integration and Application Paper
The purpose of this paper is to integrate what you have learned over the semester and create a plan for how you can apply what you learned into your personal and professional. 
You will write a five to six page (10 pages maximum) paper on a topic related to emotional development. 
Please follow the APA format. Examples of APA are at: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html. If you click on APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition) you can see a link to a APA sample paper.
Please cite all reference work where specifically used. Even if you paraphrase a sentence into your own words it must be cited. Papers are graded on creative thought and personal insights, integration of course concepts and principles, and clarity of writing and thought.
Grading and Evaluation
The following grading standards will be used in this class:
Course AssessmentsPoints PercentagesReflection Papers | 52 | 35
Reflection Paper Discussions | 56 | 15
Attachment and Emotional Development Self-Assessment | 15 | 15
Exploring Emotion - The Ten Meter Tower | 5 | 5
How Do I Dance? | 10 | 10
Integration and Application Paper | 20 | 20
Total | 167 | 100GradeRangeA | 100 % to 94.0%
A- | < 94.0 % to 90.0%
B+ | < 90.0 % to 87.0%
B | < 87.0 % to 84.0%
B- | < 84.0 % to 80.0%
C+ | < 80.0 % to 77.0%
C | < 77.0 % to 74.0%
C- | < 74.0 % to 70.0%
D+ | < 70.0 % to 67.0%
D | < 67.0 % to 64.0%
D- | < 64.0 % to 61.0%
F | < 61.0 % to 0.0%

Course Outline

Course Outline
Module 1 - Foundations of Emotional Development
Module 2 - Emotional Self-Awareness
Module 3 - Child and Adolescent Emotional Development
Module 4 - Emotional Attunement
Module 5 - Emotion Focused Couple Therapy
Module 6 - Trauma

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late work will be accepted at a 10% penalty per day up to 2 days after due date.

Extra Credit will not be given.

Instructor's Response Time & Feedback

Online classes provide unique challenges for interaction. Feedback is an important part of learning; please look for feedback on your assignments.

  • Respond to student messages within 3 business days
  • Provide grades and feedback within 5-7 business days from the due date

Attendance Policy

This is an asynchronous online course and therefore synchronous attendance is not required. Your participation in the course activities and discussions are essentially your attendance.

Course Fees

A course fee of $7.50 applies.

For current program and course fee details, see: Program and Course Fees.

Prerequisites

Canvas and Technical Support

Canvas is where course content, grades, and communication will reside for this course.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.