As part of the Nghidu Kelma series, the topic ‘Fear of Commitment’ was discussed with professionals and students from a variety of fields. During this seminar Dr. Roberta Lepre, Mr. Thomas Galea and Ms. Zvetlana Cassar were the main key speakers. Dr. Lepre presented ‘The Cohabitation Act : Necessary protection or unwarranted interference?’. Up until 2017, partners within an intimate relationship who chose not to get married were not regulated at law. Therefore, unless they purchased property together or provided for each other in their wills, there was very little to regulate their relationship. All this changed in April 2017 with the introduction of the Cohabitation Act. This was followed by a joint workshop from Mr Thomas Galea and Ms Zvetlana Cassar who addressed Attachment.
The quality of our relationship has a huge impact on how happy and satisfied we are in our lives. Furthermore, when our relationships are not going well, we can feel helpless, frustrated and overwhelmed. Thus, one important thing to do is to look at the attachment style in our lives. Attachment patterns and styles play an important role when choosing our partner and how we interact in our intimate relationships. This workshop gave an overview of different attachment patterns as a base line through which then other concepts will be highlighted such as the struggle of balancing individual needs and relationship needs and understanding the role of couple relationships in today’s modern world, moving away from fulfilling specific behavioral needs and gender role expectations , towards a context where the expectations upon a partner and upon relationship are various; emotional container, confidant, sexual partner, a secure base and at the same time a playful and spontaneous partner. Has being single has become a preferred state of being?
