Title

Overview

5 Love Languages –
WHMI only uses an abbreviated version of this curriculum.

Dr. Gary Chapman, a renowned author, speaker, and counselor with over thirty years of experience in marriage counseling, shows couples that at the heart of every marriage rests the same core longing:  all people need to feel loved and that we do not feel love in the same way. Used as a marriage enrichment curriculum (including a video, workbook and book), Chapman helps couples learn how to express heartfelt commitment to their mate by learning the five distinct languages of love, and learning the love language of their mate.  This is often a well attended event. www.lifeway.com

10 Great Dates –
WHMI only uses an abbreviated version of this curriculum.

Developed by David and Claudia Arp, 10 Great Dates is marriage enrichment classes for couples.  “10 Great Dates” is a 10 week marriage enrichment video series that is low-key, effective, and easy-to-lead. Combining fun dates and marriage education skills, this curriculum gives couples time-out to build their marriage and enrich their relationship. www.marriagealive.com

Connections: Dating & Emotions and/or Relationships & Marriage

Developed by The Dibble Fund,  this nationally recognized curricula serves students at the high school level in learning how to establish healthy relationships with their peers, families, boy/girl friends, and eventually their spouses.   Designed to be delivered in a classroom or small group format with 17 or 18 lessons; Lessons include: Am I ready; Ask, Accept, or Decline; What’s the Rush; How Relationships Grow; What Should I Say; Feeling Alone; Breaking up; Family Patterns; Love/Commitment; Deciding to Marry; Forgiveness; Attractions; and more. www.dibblefund.org

Designing Dynamic Stepfamilies – Bringing the Pieces to Peace

Developed by Gordon and Carri Taylor, this one-of-a-kind, VHS/DVD series shows the process for designing a successful stepfamily with intriguing illustrations and real life stories from the author’s own lives. The Taylor’s present and illustrate communication collisions, relationship development, discipline, money and "stuff", the step-couple relationship, and stages of stepfamily development. This 4 video/DVD set based curriculum is designed to educate step-couples, stepfamilies, those considering remarriage, and to increase the competency of professionals.  It can be used in workshops, support groups & for home study. www.designingdynamicstepfamilies.com

Empowering Couples– WHMI only uses an abbreviated version of this curriculum.

The book Empowering Couples was written by David and Amy Olsen, it was designed to complement the Prepare and Enrich inventory or as a stand alone resource.  The book includes 10 chapters which examine couples strengths, communications, conflict resolution, managing finances and more.  Chapters can be delivered as individual sessions or combined.    A couples workbook complementing the book. www.prepare-enrich.com

FOCCUS/ ReFOCCUS

FOCCUS (Facilitating Open Couple Communication, Understanding, & Study) and Re-FOCCUS are pre-marital inventories.  FOCCUS and Re-FOCCUS are self diagnostic inventories designed to help couples learn more about themselves and their unique relationship when used as a discussion instrument to help couples identify and work through issues before marriage.  FOCCUS is a 156-item instrument, with an additional 33 optional items for interfaith couples, cohabiting couples and couples in which one or both partners are remarrying, and may include 4-8 feedback sessions in which the counselor facilitates discussion between the couple based on their inventory results. www.foccusinc.com

How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk

John Van Epp, PhD provides a roadmap for dating individuals to using their head and heart when choosing a marriage partner. Topics include: Recognizing subtle, hidden signs of future problems; Judging your partner’s true personality; Analyzing your partner’s conscience; Pacing the relationship to prevent premature emotional attachment; Focusing on your emotional health so you’re not the jerk; Delaying sex until trust and commitment are firmly in place; and more. This method will help couples and singles alike determine exactly what their partner will be like as a spouse, while also keeping them from getting blinded by love and providing the tools to build a strong, healthy marriage.  www.nojerks.com

Love U2: Increasing your Relationship Smarts

Also from The Dibble Fund, Marline Pearson developed a series of units to help young people acquire practical skills for emotionally healthy and ethically sound relationships. It focuses on helping teens craft a roadmap toward what they hope to achieve, not just what they must avoid. "Increasing Your Relationship Smarts" covers subjects such as attraction, infatuation, rejection, falling in love, emotions, and breaking up. Students also learn specific dating skills: what to say and do in the early stages, how to get to know someone, how to assess a relationship and avoid attachment to problem people.  Lessons include varied activities based on the latest research. Stories from the anthology, The Art of Loving Well, as well as the TV series, My So Called Life, help bring these topics alive.
This unit is designed for schools (specifically grades 8-12), youth agencies, clubs and faith- or community-based organizations. www.dibblefund.org

Married and Loving It!

Married and Loving It! (by Petty and Petty) is a ready to teach curricula. Teaching relationship building skills through a series of five classes to couples so their relationship will be strengthened as they develop a happy, healthy marriage.
The objectives of Married and Loving it! are to help couples identify communication skills including love languages, give couples guidelines for establishing a sound financial situation, address anger issues and conflict resolution in a marriage relationship, discuss the role of in-laws, extended family, and other factors that influence the marriage relationship. www.marriedandlovingit.org

Marriage Mentoring 12 Conversations

Dr. Edward Gray teaches marriage mentor couples through a fun, 3-hour training workshop where the mentors actually “test drive” a part of the mentor program.
After the mentor training workshop, the mentoring committee matches mentor and mentee couples. The couples meet monthly for one year as they develop a friendship over guided conversations about marriage. They meet in a relaxed atmosphere of their choosing, perhaps enjoying snacks, a meal, or dessert together. They discuss a topic about marriage with the corresponding list of suggested questions from the mentoring conversations guide. The twelve topics of “conversation” include: Thankfulness, Healthy Marriage Habits: Showing Our Love for Each Other, Leaving and Cleaving: Making our Life Together, Recreation & Playfulness, Money in Marriage, Communication, Problem Solving, Balancing Acts: God, Marriage, Family, Community, & Work, Children, Friendship, Closeness, & Intimacy, Planning for Our Future, Celebrating the Holidays.  www.12conversations.com

Power of Two

Dr. Susan Heitler teaches marriage skills such as: Zero fighting. Collaborative dialogue skills sustain love by building mutual understanding. Unlike programs that assume that marriage inevitably involves fighting, Power of Two teaches the skills that enable couples to explore even the most sensitive issues without fights; Everyone wins all the time. Instead of assuming that marriage requires compromises, Power of Two teaches how to solve differences in a way that leads to fully win-win action plans; Mistakes are for learning. With effective apology and healing routines, couples can turn their upsets into opportunities for growth.
The Power of Two understands that learning marriage communication skills depends first on understanding them, and then on practice, practice, practice. The Power of Two offers learning resources in multiple modalities. Read about the skills, do workbook exercises, listen to audio tapes, watch videos, or play an interactive online game. The goal is to enable couples to master the skills for marriage success. www.po2.com

Prepare/Enrich

PREPARE/ENRICH is a program developed by David H. Olson Ph.D, Joan M. Druckman Ph.D, and David G. Fournier, Ph.D based on a set of five inventories (PREPARE - Pre-marital couples, PREPARE-MC - Pre-marital couples with children, PREPARE-CC - Cohabiting Couples with or without children, ENRICH - Married couples with or without children, and MATE - Couples over the age of 50) that examine twenty major relationship issues a couple may experience.  These inventories must be administered by a trained PREPARE/ENRICH Counselor and include 4-6 feedback sessions in which the counselor facilitates discussion between the couple based on their inventory results.  www.prepare-enrich.com

Smart Steps

Developed by Francesca Adler-Baeder, PhD, CFLE and leading stepfamily educators with the Stepfamily Association of America, this research-based, multimedia, interactive program provides a comprehensive educational base for remarriage preparation and/or relationship enrichment. The 12-hour program is designed to involve both couples and children ages 6-16 in separate sessions held concurrently.  Adults expand their knowledge about the myths about stepfamilies, realistic expectations for stepfamily members, stages of stepfamily development, defining roles and rules, parenting practices, and stepparent-stepchild relationships.  www.successfulstepfamilies.com

Get the Conversation Started

*Is your teen ready to date? You'll never know if you don't talk to them. Order your Conversation Starter Tip Sheet and the Increasing Your Relationship Smarts booklet for your teen!

 

Family Night 2008
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The Wyoming Healthy Marriage Initiative
PO Box 884
Cheyenne, WY 82003
(307) 514-4450
(866) WYO-FAMS

To contact individual staff, give comments or suggestions, or ask questions, please email your request to: info@wyofams.org