While many happy couples invest hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars in preparation for the happiest day of their lives, how much time & effort should we invest in preparation for the happiness of the many years together that follow?
The “Prepare-Enrich” programs are designed to prepare and enrich marriages for lifelong happiness and success. They facilitate the important discussions needed prior to and during marriage. Marriage is a partnership that will succeed or fail often on the success of communication, more so than that of “compatibility.” Gwen and Denis are both Marriage Celebrants and trained PREPARE-ENRICH educators and counsellors. Gwen has a Master’s Degree in Counselling and Denis a PhD in cross-cultural communication.
We will arrange a separate on-line inventory for you and your partner with a set of questions from one of the programs specifically designed for premarital couples, cohabiting premarital couples, premarital couples with children, married couples, or couples over the age of 50. After being invited to participate and having the program explained to you and your partner, the first step is to take one of the inventories in order to provide an accurate description of your relationship. Your responses are processed on-line at the Prepare-Enrich office and the results summarised in a 15-page Computer Report that is sent to us together with other resources associated with the program. The material is coded and no names are attached to the answer sheets or the report.
“We are back from our honeymoon and back at work (back to reality). We both just wanted to say a very big thank you for making our wedding day extra special. We loved the ceremony and everybody commented to us how much they enjoyed the ceremony and how great you were :-)”
“We would like to thank you for giving us such a wonderful and memorable day. We have been to so many weddings and we found ourselves very lucky that ours was the best. Thank for your work and effort – you have made our day so different from the others!”
“Thank you for providing us with the Prepare/Enrich Counselling. We both learned so much through the feedback sessions with you. They were very practical and we will seek to apply them in our married lives to have “the second happiest marriage in the world – because you have the first! :-)”
Denis focuses on assisting you plan your celebration and provides you with services that make your day special to you and your friends. He specialises in multi-cultural Weddings and includes special events and cultural expressions to respect the backgrounds of the couple, friends and families. Over the years, he has provided a unique Wedding Booklet which provides a memento of your special day. Copies can be ordered to share with relatives and special friends.
For more information concerning the planning of your Wedding Ceremony click here!
PREPARE/ENRICH assesses these areas of your relationship:
- 12 Relationship Scales — communication, conflict resolution, roles, sexuality, finances, spiritual beliefs, and more
- 5 SCOPE Personality Scales
- 4 Couple and Family Scales — based on Circumplex Model
- 4 Relationship Dynamic Scales
- 30 Customised Scales
The goals of the program are:
- Explore couple strength & growth areas
- Explore personality traits
- Strengthen couple communication skills
- Learn Ten Steps for Resolving Couple Conflict
- Reducing Couple Stress
- Explore family-of-origin issues and backgrounds
- Comfortably discuss and develop financial budget and plans
- Establish and develop personal, couple & family goals
You will receive a 25 page workbook called ‘Building A Strong Marriage’ which is designed to help you to complete six exercises that are intended to complement the feedback dialogue being facilitated by ourselves.
As well as providing important background information, twenty areas are covered in each of the inventories and individual and couple responses in these areas are summarised in the report:
Significant Issues for Couples:
- Communication
- Conflict Resolution
- Personality Issues
- Financial Management
- Marital Leisure Activities
- Sexual Expectations
- Children and Parenting
- Family and Friends
- Realistic Expectations
- Idealistic Distortions
- Role Relationship
- Spiritual Beliefs
Personality Analysis:
- Assertiveness
- Self Confidence
- Avoidance
- Partner Dominance
Closeness and Flexibility of Family-of-Origin
Closeness and Flexibility of Couple Relationship/Marriage
The next step is for you to return for a number of feedback sessions as determined together and by agreement.