General Information
What are the elements of a happy and successful marriage? If you ask 10 couples, you might get 10 different answers. But if you ask over 61,000 couples there are some clear trends that emerge. Researchers at Life Innovations, Inc. performed a study that looked at strong marriages and what makes them work.
The research found the following ten items as most significant in contributing to a successful marriage: effective communication, flexible roles, closeness, personality issues, conflict resolution, sexual satisfaction, common leisure activities, outside friendships, responsible financial management, and meaningful spiritual beliefs.
4-6 SESSION PRE-MARRIAGE PROGRAM
The 4-6 Session Pre-marriage Program includes a 165 item questionnaire that measures the couple’s agreement in eleven different areas:
♦ marital expectations.
♦ personality issues.
♦ communication.
♦ conflict resolution.
♦ financial management.
♦ leisure activities.
♦ sexual relationship.
♦ children and parenting.
♦ family and friends.
♦ role relationships.
♦ spiritual life.
The couple spends four-six sessions reviewing the strengths and growth areas of the relationship, working on communication and conflict resolution skills, and developing a vision for their marriage. Included is a workbook entitled Building a Strong Marriage. This workbook includes exercises to help the couple with skill building and includes items on budgeting and goal setting.
This premarital preparation program will give you the opportunity to assess your relationship, build on your strengths as a couple, gain communication skills, and develop a vision for your future. I believe that these elements will provide the foundation for a lasting, successful marriage.