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Pre-Marital/Early-Marital Workshop
"Prepare for your marriage, not just your wedding!"

Details

Start your marriage right!

Join me for two Saturdays for the fun, upbeat and informative “Pre-Marital/Early-Marital Workshop: Prepare for your marriage, not just your wedding.” Learn how to be more mindful and attentive of your relationship from day one to your 50th anniversary together. What better wedding gift to give each other than to commit to enhancing your marriage by learning skills that will continue throughout the years to reinforce your love for each other.

Give the best gifts: the gifts of knowledge, commitment, appreciation, communication and time together. This workshop is perfect for recently married couples, too!

Included:

  • Eight Sessions in Six Hours over Two Days! 6 hours of instruction, discussion, exercises, etc. See full details & schedule below.
  • Great Relationships Workbook full of the best of the best articles, worksheets, exercises, ideas and inspiring quotes.
  • Approaches that really work based on the best research and the PREPARE/ENRICH model. More info about the PREPARE/ENRICH model...
  • Refreshments.

Six Goals of the Program:

1. To explore Relationship Strengths and Growth Areas
2. To learn Assertiveness and Active Listening Skills
3. To learn how to resolve conflict using the Ten Step Model
4.

To help the couple discuss their Family-of-Origin
5.

To help the couple with financial planning and budget
6. To focus on personal, couple and family goals

Six Couple Exercises in Feedback Process:

1.

Building Strength and Growth areas
2. Couple Communication Exercise
3. Ten Steps for Resolving Couple Conflict
4.

Family-of-Origin Issues
5.

Financial Planning and Budget
6. Personal, couple and family goals

Twenty Areas Assessed in each of the Four Couple Inventories

A. Focuses on Significant Issues for Couples (13 scales):

  • Communication
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Personality Issues
  • Financial Management
  • Marital Satisfaction
  • Leisure Activities Children and Parenting
  • Family and Friends
  • Realistic Expectations
  • Cohabitation Issues
  • Idealistic Distortion
  • Role Relationship
  • Spiritual Beliefs

B. Personality Assessment (4 scales):

  • Assertiveness
  • Self Confidence
  • Avoidance
  • Partner Dominance

C. Couple and Family Map (4 scales):

  • Family Map used to describe Family-of-Origin
  • Couple Map used to describe Type of Marriage/Couple Relationship

Curricula subject to change as needed without notice

Dates & Schedule

Dates: Two Saturdays, Next date TBA: When class is full with pre-registrants we will set dates and begin.

S
A
T
U
R
D
A
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1st Saturday
SCHEDULE:
TIME
Welcome, Registration & Socializing 8:30 - 9:00 AM
Seminar 1 9:00 - 10:25 AM
Session 1: Explore Relationship Strength and Growth Areas
Summary: This session is devoted to providing couples with feedback from their Inventories. Using the Couple Report, couples are walked through the feedback process, giving them the opportunity to identify Relationship Strength and Growth Areas and to plan for future growth.

Session 2: Developing Assertiveness & Deep Listening Skills

Summary: Couples are taught how to improve their assertiveness and active/deep listening skills. These skills are the foundation for building and maintaining a good relationship.
Break & Refreshments
 10:25 - 10:35 AM
Seminar 2 10:35 AM - 12:00 PM
Session 3: Strengthening Communication skills.
Summary: Communication is the lifeblood of a relationship. This session is designed to help couples increase their awareness concerning patterns of communication that presently exist in their relationship and to introduce skills that are useful for enhancing their ability to communicate.
Session 4: Resolve Conflicts using the Ten Steps Procedure
Summary: Learning to effectively handle conflict and the anger it produces is an essential skill for relationship growth. In this session, the focus is on accepting conflict as a natural part of relationships and learning ways to manage it in a constructive manner.
Evaluations & End of first half.
Meet again the following Saturday for the second half.		 12:00 PM

S
A
T
U
R
D
A
Y
2nd Saturday,
SCHEDULE:
TIME
Welcome & Socializing 8:30 - 9:00 AM
Seminar 3 9:00 - 10:25 AM
Session 5:Explore Relationship and Family-of-Origin issues using the Couple & Family Map.
Summary: One of the most vital influences in the early years of marriage is each partner's family of origin. This session focuses on understanding the impact of each partner's family-of-origin on their present relationship. The Map is introduced as a tool to help couples evaluate the effect of those families on their relationship.
Session 6: Develop a Workable Budget and Financial Plan.
Summary: A significant issue for a high percentage of married couples surrounds their ability to manage financial resources. This session explores the various meanings which money can have in relationships and investigates ways to effectively handle finances as a couple.
Break & Refreshments
 10:25 - 10:35 AM
Seminar 4 10:35 AM - 12:00 PM
Session 7: Demystifying Marital Intimacy and Sexuality.
Summary: Developing and maintaining intimacy is a primary goal for most couples. This session focuses on the importance of affirmation and affection in marriage. It is designed to help couples find a variety of ways to create intimacy, including through their sexual relationship.
Session 8: Develop Personal, Couple and Family goals.
Summary: Change is inevitable but growth is intentional. This session focuses on the importance of partners taking responsibility for growth in their relationship and helps them formulate a plan for continued progress. Couples focus on their personal, couple and family goals and develop an action plan using the CHANGE Model.
Evaluations & Farewells
 12:00 PM
  • Note: descriptions in session summaries are from the PREPARE/ENRICH Counselor's Manual. This workshop is based on the PREPARE/ENRICH model as it is one of the most well-researched approaches available and is considered the best-practice in the field of pre-marital and marital enhancement work.

Location

TBA: At one of the following

The Historic Colonial House
Main Street
Lehi, UT

American Fork Library Community Room
64 South 100 East
American Fork, UT.

Click here for a map to the library.

Registration & Fees

Cost: Only $185.00 per couple. That's six hours of instruction for two people!

I do realize, though, for some starting out this may seem expensive. I urge you to Count the Cost. This small investment of your time and resources can pay big dividends in both the short- and long-term life of your marriage and family. Many parents and grandparents know this and are more than happy to help with the cost. Inquire about scholarship options if finances are an issue.

RSVP: Reserve your space today.

Payment and Registration Options:

  • By Mail: You can pay by check by printing, filling out and sending in this registration form.
  • Online: You can pay with your credit card, debit card or check online safely, securely and conveniently via PayPal. Just click below.
  • NOTE: Gift Certificate Holders: To register simply email or call me at 801.787.8014 and I'll be happy to reserve your space.

About the PREPARE/ENRICH Pre-Marital & Marriage Enhancement Approach

Scientifically Developed and Tested:

National Norms based on:

  • 350,000 couples for PREPARE
  • 150,000 couples for PREPARE-MC
  • 150,000 couples for ENRICH

High Levels of Validity and Reliability:

PREPARE has validity in that it discriminates premarital couples that get divorced from those that are happily married with about 80-85% accuracy. Reliability is high (alpha reliability of .80 - .85).

The Developers

DAVID H. OLSON Ph.D.
Professor, Family Social Science, University of Minnesota; Developed ten diagnostic tools and Circumplex Model; Licensed Consulting Psychologist and Licensed Marital & Family Therapist, State of Minnesota.

JOAN M. DRUCKMAN Ph.D.
Marriage and Family Counselor, Palo Alto, California; Co-directed study on "Effectiveness of Five Types of Premarital Preparation Programs."

DAVID G. FOURNIER, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Child and Family Development, Oklahoma State University; completed study of reliability and validity of PREPARE. Former Director, Marital & Family Therapy Program.

For more information about research with PREPARE Inventories, see Research Studies on www.lifeinnovations.com

Changed Lives! Clergy & Participant Testimonials

"One of the greatest relational tasks on life’s journey is building a strong family. We are committed to helping you keep those most sacred ties healthy and growing. Learning Jonathan Sherman’s key to relational wholeness will give you the tools to be the best partner, parent, or grandparent you can be, whether you are single or married, with or without children! These foundational skills apply to all core relationships!"

–Rev. Janet Forbes, in regards to Jonathan Sherman's "Building Strong Marriages & Families with ACCCTS"
Audio Testimonial: Hear the full audio testimonial (1:34min) from her sermon Relationship: The Heart of Ministry Rev. Janet Forbes

Audio Testimonial: Hear the full audio testimonial (2:03min) from her sermon Celebrating Hearts for Ministry describing right relationship, trim tab, and Jonathan Sherman

For even MORE comments click here: www.bardos.net/comments

About Jonathan

Jonathan D. Sherman, MS, LMFT is a licensed marriage and family therapist, executive relationship consultant, sought-after speaker and author. He is the founder of Bardos Relationship Consulting where he specializes:

1. In helping couples create greatness in their relationships through marriage transformation, parent training and self-mastery; and

2. in helping organizations increase productivity, employee retention and customer satisfaction through the development of a skillful work/family balance in their leaders and employees lives.

While he thoroughly enjoys his work with the corporations and organizations he consults for he most especially loves his work with faith-based communities where he feels he gets to "preach to the choir" with those who are deeply invested in allowing spiritual principles to improve their marriages and families.

In addition to the hundreds of articles he has written to help people develop relationship greatness, over 60,000 people subscribe to his monthly Great Relationships eZine.

He is married to a lovely and skilled husband trainer who has truly earned her keep. They live in eternal bliss (okay, fairly peaceably) with their four children in the Rocky Mountains of Utah.

Here you will find a brief bio sketch that outlines Jonathan's background and experience further.

You can also see and print Jonathan's full vita that contains all his speaking engagements, credentials, education and experience.

Spreading the Word & Filling the Seats

Sometimes someone wants a pre-marital workshop when there isn't one currently scheduled. No problem. Just gather five or more (no more than 20 couples) and I'll be happy to schedule a workshop as soon as you like!

The Great Relationships Workshops


Full of the best articles, worksheets and exercises from Jonathan Sherman's consultations, workshops, and seminars to help you create truly great relationships.

Groove on these Great Relationship Toons



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