Blake and I are in the process of becoming Couple Communication instructors. Couple Communication is a marriage enrichment program designed to help couples improve their communication and problem solving and create a collaborative marriage. It's designed for couples who are in fairly stable marriages and want to improve and enrich their relationship.
Programs and self-help books on marriage are a dime a dozen, it seems. Many of them are based on personal experience and opinion. The great thing about Couple Communication is that it is research based. The theory upon which the program is based is backed by research, and the program itself is empirically supported. It works, and they know why it works.
A few weeks ago we went to an all-day training for instructors. Now we have to teach 20 couples to complete our certification. It's usually taught in 4 2-hour sessions. Starting tomorrow we're helping to teach Couple Communication as part of a BYU evening course. We're pretty nervous.
One of the awesome things about this program is that it teaches you skills for solving big and unusual problems. Most people can figure out what to eat for dinner without too much difficulty, but sometimes we get stuck on the big decisions like when to have kids or where to live or what to spend the tax return on. Couple Communication helps you become aware of all aspects of an issue and to listen effectively to your partner. It also guides you through generating options and selecting a plan of action.
We got the instructor materials and one couple packet (each couple who takes the course gets one) in the mail a few weeks before our training began. The packet had these weird looking canvas mats in them. We thought they looked pretty hokey until we used them as part of our training. They are actually really awesome. For practice, Blake and I used the issue of where we'll live when we move. We had been having the same conversation for a few weeks. Using the mats we broke new ground; fleshing out the issue more thoroughly, becoming aware of all aspects, helped us make some real progress. It was awesome. (That's where my thoughts on a real house came from.)
Blake and I are nervous about starting to teach, but we are also really excited about the program and feel like it has real potential to help people.
3 comments:
I want to see a picture of the magical mats! That sounds like a really interesting program. Do you have any web links for further info?
So, how 'bout you train Jason and I? :) We cannot figure out what to do next year. To work...not to work. Send kids to daycare...not to send kids to daycare. Grad school...no grad school. Ugh! No fun!
I've been wondering how everything went with this. How many people have you helped now. You'll have to explain the mats to me too... I'm not picturing them correctly, I'm sure!
Post a Comment