Newly Committed/Engaged

Combination of Gottman and Prepare/Enrich Assessment

The program is first built around a comprehensive assessment tool (prepare and enrich) that helps couples identify their strengths and areas of growth in their relationship. The assessment covers a range of areas, including communication, conflict resolution, intimacy, personality, and more. Next we dive into research evidence skills by The Gottman institute that are proven to help couples have successful relationships.

Based on the results of the assessment, couples are then provided with personalized feedback and recommendations for improvement. The program includes a range of resources and tools, including workbooks, exercises, and activities designed to help couples build and strengthen their relationship skills. Very comprehensive!

Its a class but still one on one private sessions with just you and your partner so you can get individual attention to your needs.

Quality premarital preparation, like PREPARE/ENRICH, can reduce the risk of divorce and increase relationship skills and satisfaction. In a survey of 3,334 couples, premarital education programs were found to reduce divorce by 31% (Stanley, Amato, Johnson, & Markman, 2006). Participants with premarital education had higher marital satisfaction, higher commitment, and lower marital confl ict.

The Newly Committed Relationship Program

Program begins May 2023

The program is a couples counseling and premarital education program that has been used by millions of couples worldwide. Here are some key points:

Improved Communication: The program provides a comprehensive assessment of a couple's communication style and helps them identify strengths and areas for improvement. Through the program, couples can learn effective communication skills that can help them resolve conflicts in a healthy and constructive way.
Enhanced Relationship Skills: The program focuses on building skills that are essential for maintaining a healthy and fulfilling relationship, such as emotional regulation, empathy, and problem-solving. Participants learn how to better understand themselves and their partners, and how to navigate relationship challenges.
Increased Self-Awareness: The program helps individuals gain a better understanding of themselves, their values, and their goals. This self-awareness can lead to greater personal growth and improved relationships with others.
Tailored Assessment: The program is tailored to each couple's unique needs, based on their assessment results (prepare and enrich assessment). This means that the program is customized to address specific areas of strength and weakness, ensuring that participants get the most out of the program.
Long-lasting Benefits: Couples who participate in the program report long-lasting benefits, such as improved communication, stronger emotional connection, and better conflict resolution skills. These benefits can help couples maintain a healthy and fulfilling relationship for years to come.

Overall, the program offers many advantages to couples who want to strengthen their relationship or prepare for marriage. It provides a comprehensive assessment of the couple's strengths and areas for improvement, as well as customized guidance and support to help them build a lasting and fulfilling partnership.

What to expect

Each session will have a lecture with PowerPoint, a possible video to watch, an exercise to practice in session, a discussion about that week's topic and then a practice goal in between sessions with assigned readings. Please note this is a structured but still flexible format. This may not be typical "counseling" though we do talk about issues and feelings, please note I offer couples counseling after couples have completed the class.

My method is not suited for couples in a crisis or wanting to dive into issues immediately as I specialize in enrichment counseling format and I stick to this format due my choice of therapy. I love to first set a solid foundation based on evidence-based practices of healthy relationships - which naturally helps counseling be more successful.

First Session: Get to know you

-Take assessment between sessions

2: Review Prepare/enrich assessment

What we focus on depends on your assessment

3: Overview of the seven principles, Gottman's research, and lecture on what makes a marriage work:

Longest lecture on summary of class
Video discussing Gottman's 4 horsemen that are disasters to marriages
Assign a practice assignment
This session covers chapters 1-3

4. Enhance your love maps

Lecture for about 10 minutes on principle 1
Practice Exercise on Love Maps
Practice Exercise on Asking open-ended questions
Assign a practice assignment
This session covers Chapter 4

5. Nurture Your fondness and admiration

Review the previous lesson and the practice assignment from the previous week
Lecture for about 5-10 minutes on the new principles 2 and 3
Practice exercise on cherishing your partner
Assign a practice assigned on Fondness and Admiration
Principle 3
Turning Toward
Stress Reduction Exercise
This session covers Chapters 5 & 6

7. Let your Partner Influence you/2 kinds of conflict

Lecture on Principle 4
Exercise 1, Yield to win
Exercise 2, Island survival game
Two kinds of confllict
Lecture
Exercise on solvable and perpertual problems
Lecture the keys to manage conflict
Covers chapter 7 and 8

8. Working on solving solvable problems

Review previous sessions and assignment
Lecture on principle 5 - soften your startup
Exercise practice on softening startup
Lecture on learning to make and receive repair attempts for 5 minutes
Practice with the repair checklist
Lecture on soothing yourself and each other for about 5 minutes
Self-soothing practice exercise
Lecture on Compromise for about 5 minutes
Exercise on finding common ground
This session covers Chapter 9

General Overview

. Coping with typical solvable problems

Review previous assignment
Lecture "unplugging from distractions for about 5 minutes
Quiz on electronic distractions with discussion
Discuss on the topic of interest as stress, money, parents, housework relations with inlaws,
Practice exercise with inlaws (optional)
Exercise on "Who does what list"
Quiz on quality of sex, romance and passion
Lecture on five ways to make sex more personal and romantic
This session covers Chapter 10

9 Overcome gridlock

Review assigned assignments or readings
Lecture on principle 6 about 10 minutes
Lecture and review over flooding and self-soothing about 10 minutes
Lecture and overview of understanding the dream behind the conflict
Practice exercises on detecting dreams behind the conflict
Lecture on working on a gridlocked Issue
Practice exercise on a gridlocked martial issue
This session covers Chapter 11

10. Create shared meaning

Review readings or assignments
Lecture on principle 7 the ideas of shared meaning pillars: rituals of connection, support for each other's roles, shared goals, shared values and symbols
Exercise on using the four pillars above
Lecture on The magic 6 hours
Lecture on The marital poop detector
Lecture on forgiving yourself
Practice exercise
Next steps
This session covers Chapter 12

Fee Structure

More information coming soon......

I will have several formats similar to the general couples connection enrichment class.

Contact

Schedule a meet and greet before your first session, we can ensure if the class is a good fit and you can ask questions.

info@christinaspinler.com

123-456-7890