As many of you know I’m a big advocate for marriage preparation classes. But do they work, that is the question?
The other day I received an e-mail giving me a link to an article about a study regarding marriage preparation classes. Thanks to Amanda Verzello for sending this to me.
The article looks at whether marriage preparation classes work. The article didn’t appear to come to a definitive conclusion. It was very much yes and no. Yes, in the sense that in the majority of cases, it did improve communication between couples. To my mind anything that improves communication in a couple, can only be a good thing.
So many problems can be averted or solved, if you can talk about them honestly and rationally with your spouse. Whenever Mick and I need to decide on a major, or even a minor, issue it is something we talk about a lot. If there is a problem, it is something we work through together.
When couples are experiencing problems in their marriage it is often because the communication process has broken down and they can’t talk thing over and work through to a solution.
Author and a visiting professor at BYU Elizabeth Fawcett, had this to say. “If marriage prep classes can teach couples communication skills that will help them avoid divorce or marital distress, then these communication-based classes could be very helpful to a large number of couples.”
It is suggested that it could be useful for all couples but especially for those who have grown up in a situation where parents are divorced and they do not have a positive role model of a lasting marriage to emulate. In my book, anything that can improve the quality of marriage and chance of success has to be a good thing.
Join me tomorrow for more on this topic.
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