Curricula evaluated




Within Our Reachedit

  • Curriculum Length: 28 Hours
  • Languages: English and Spanish
  • Publisher: PREP, Inc.

“WOR addresses factors that are associated with relationship quality or stability in longitudinal studies with middle-class couples. WOR takes a cognitive-behavioral approach to relationship and marriage education, with the goal of helping couples modify their behavior and thoughts about their relationship to reduce, and better manage, negative moods and emotions. Also central to WOR’s approach is its focus on different types of safety characterized as essential to maintaining healthy relationships: safety in interaction (can talk openly about issues), personal safety (freedom from fear of harm), and safety in commitment (mutual support, teamwork, and a clear future together).”

Becoming Parents Programedit

  • Curriculum Length: 30 Hours
  • Languages: English and Spanish
  • Publisher: PREP, Inc.

“BPP is intended for couples who are expecting or have recently had a child together. BPP is based on the PREP curriculum, which contributes much of the curriculum’s material on strengthening couple relationships. BPP’s primary focus is on helping participants prepare their relationships for the challenges of parenthood, thereby building protective factors and reducing adverse experiences for their children. BPP includes empirically based information on child development and parenting, and it teaches skills for reducing common relationship and personal stressors following the addition of a new baby, with particular emphasis on relationship skill-building, self-care, information about infants, and building support networks to reduce isolation.”

For Our Future, For Our Familyedit

  • Curriculum Length: 30 Hours
  • Languages: English and Spanish
  • Publisher: PAIRS Foundation

“Objectives of FOF are to help couples deepen intimacy on a foundation of emotional literacy, including skills for recognizing, navigating, and expressing a range of emotions; enhancing interpersonal communication; and constructively addressing differences and conflicts on behalf of a shared relationship vision. The curriculum helps each spouse know and nurture oneself and one’s partner, enjoy differences rather than see them as a threat, and learn to create a relationship that is an ongoing source of pleasure for both partners. FOF emphasizes bonding (emotional openness and physical closeness) in the relationship as a central theme.”

Loving Couples, Loving Childrenedit

  • Curriculum Length: 24 Hours
  • Languages: English and Spanish
  • Publisher: LCLC, Inc.

“LCLC is organized around the concept that the underpinning of a healthy relationship is a strong friendship, as indicated by positive emotions shared in nonconflict interactions. In addition, LCLC proposes a four-part process for problem-solving that includes gentle start-up of challenging conversations, accepting the validity of multiple perspectives, becoming skilled at repair-and-recovery conversations and at compromise. In LCLC workshops, couples are encouraged to share their hopes for themselves and their marriage and to explore the personal experiences that shape their beliefs and expectations. By discovering and validating each spouse’s values and dreams, the couple can reduce damaging interactions related to recurring problems and can build a sense of shared meaning and identity as a couple.”

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Publications

"Designing a Marriage Education Demonstration and Evaluation for Low-Income Married Couples," August 2008. "Spending Time Together: Time Use Estimates for Economically Disadvantaged and Nondisadvantaged Married Couples in the United States," September 2009. "Early Lessons from the Implementation of a Relationship and Marriage Skills Program for Low-Income Married Couples," September 2010. "Supporting Healthy Marriage: Early Impacts on Low-Income Families," February 2012. "Supporting Healthy Marriage: Final Implementation Findings," August 2012. "Supporting Healthy Marriage: 30-Month Impact Report," Scheduled for Fall 2013.
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Proponents

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