Candidate for Friday Five

In particular, a healthy marriage is one of the two most important factors contributing to personal happiness.[4] Marriage is also a very strong factor in ...





2.
David Brooks: The three views of marriage
Two years ago the Northwestern University psychologist Eli Finkel had an article in The New York Times describing how marriage is polarizing: The ...




3. The children of divorce: anything but resilient

NICOLE M. KING






4. Smaller Share of Women Ages 65 and Older Are Living Alone

RENEE STEPLER






5.    Marriage: A review of the documented state of the union in England

Like in other periods across history, marriage has shed its skin and has adapted to serve the requirements of modern life in England says a new report from Civitas












7. Children of separated couples have worse outcomes at age 11, new research confirms






8. 

Ad of the Day: Ford's Risky New Short Film About Divorce Is Beautiful and Sad








I may send a few more tomorrow eve after a 300 mile drive from Coronado to Pismo Beach, CA













Fwd: FFF: Religion, Relationships & Health

February 19, 2016
FFF

Dear Friends,

Our research this week shows a clear trend: Religion improves relationships, stable relationships are more prone to result in marriage, and marriage improves long-term health. The combined power of religious practice and intact marriages surpass any social program our government could create!


FEATURED ON MARRIPEDIA



Marriage and Religious Faithfulness

The combination of religious practice and stable marital relationships contributes to a strong and successful next generation. Go to this Marripedia entry to learn more.


RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS



Man in Prayer
Role of Religion in Relationships


According
to Brad Wilcox of the University of Virginia and Nicholas H. Wolfinger of the University of Utah, men who go to church are more likely to have very happy romantic relationships. Learn more about the effects of religious practice on marriage on Marripedia.





Couple Disagreeing
The Progression of Sexual Relationships


Sharon Sassler of Cornell University and her coauthors show that sexual relationships among young adults in the U.S. are frequently short-lived. Check out Marripedia to find out how the family structure in which these young adults were raised affects these transitory relationships.




Elderly Couple

The Importance of Long-Term Marriages


Marriage—even its frustrating disagreements—strengthens men and women’s long-term health, according to the study done by Deborah Carr of Rutgers University. Make sure to dig deeper into the research on Marripedia.org!




Sincerely,

Patrick Fagan
Director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute


This email is being sent to BILLANDPATCOFFIN@VERIZON.NET.


Unsubscribe or update your address.
Trouble with the opt out link? Simply forward this message to rem@link.rm0002.net or call 773-470-0350.

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Marriage and Religion Research Institute | 8801 Kensignton Parkway | Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Candidates for Friday Five

Their scores were then compared with their fatherhood status later in life to determine if their adolescent knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about sex, ..


or



Rick Johnson 
Four things to teach your children about love
I think that love is a deep affection or attachment to something or someone. It consists of traits such as unselfishness, loyalty, devotion, tenderness, ...




2. The importance of long-term marriage for health and happiness - See more at: http://blog.oup.com/2016/02/importance-long-term-marriage-health/#sthash.0O5zdAUQ.dpuf

Deborah Carr







3. 2016 Relationship Enhancement & Filial Therapy Conference

April 8-9; Bethesda, Maryland

The 2016 Relationship Enhancement and Filial Therapy Conference -- sponsored by the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement and the Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement Methods -- will be held April 8-9 in Bethesda, Maryland. The conference will feature workshops on play and on relationship-enhancement therapy.

To learn more and register, please visit: https://www.ncfr.org/events/calendar/2016-relationship-enhancement-and-filial-therapy-conference


OR






4. Cost of Family Failure 2016: £48 billion – and still rising

The 2016 update of the Relationships Foundation’s “Cost of Family Failure Index” 



OR

 

Iain Duncan Smith MP sets out Government’s vision for tackling relationship breakdown at Relate Lecture

Government,  businesses and public services all have a role to play in tackling the high levels of relationship breakdown in the UK, which are currently costing the economy £47billion every year. This is according to a new report to be launched by the UK’s leading relationships charity, Relate,  commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions and welcomed by Minister for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith.

 

The report, All together now: Stronger relationships for a stronger society, sets out Relate’s 2025 vision


 A full written transcript of the Secretary of State's speech is now available as is a video of the event.

 (via Dave's weekly UK email)









5. Throwback Thursday, Week 6: Marriage and the female college student










The aim of this two-part post is to outline a broad sociological perspective for addressing recurring family issues that arise for women faculty in the ...





7. 

Map: Marriage rates on the decline

Rachel Bennett



OR

Few millennials are getting married, and the numbers behind that trend











8. 

Dollars and Priorities: The Financing of Child Welfare








9. 

A new effort to move Americans out of poverty


Sarah Rosen Wartell






10. 

USU Study Connects Some Social Media Use to Marital Dissatisfaction





Thanks Anna



Fwd: SO much happening. Don't Miss. Take a Fast Glance


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: National Marriage Week USA <sheila@nationalmarriageweekusa.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 12, 2016 at 11:16 AM
Subject: SO much happening. Don't Miss. Take a Fast Glance
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com



NMW header

So much happening this week!  
PLEASE take a quick glance!

Hi friends!
 
There are SO many individuals, groups, and churches celebrating National Marriage Week this week, and using Feb 7 to 14th to stir up hope and help for couples, singles, and families!  Be sure to search the activities in your state on our National Calendar-
and always post for free any marriage event all year long!

GREAT Media Coverage and Partnerships THIS WEEK!

National TV on EWTN Network News--2.5 minute on-camera interview which lays out the goals of our campaign! https://gloria.tv/media/BiH3LrzPUTv

The Eric Metaxas Show! My lively & candid conversation with him about marriage & dating! Listen from 6:30 minute mark https://soundcloud.com/the-eric-metaxas-show/sheila-weber

My FOX NEWS Commentary--What Presidential Candidates Could & Should Be Saying About Marriage! http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/02/10/presidential-candidates-its-national-marriage-week-so-lets-talk-about-marriage.

"How Marriage Helps Kids" Commentary at  http://dailysignal.com/2016/02/10/how-marriage-helps-kids/

U.S Catholic Bishops Encourage Joining NATIONAL MARRIAGE WEEK FEBRUARY 7-14 http://www.usccb.org/news/2016/16-018.cfm 

National Association of Evangelicals gave a big, color promotion on their NAE calendar in their mailed magazine to encourage all churches to celebrate this week!

Someone started an INSTAGRAM CAMPAIGNfor National Marriage Week! Join the hashtag! http://www.fridaywereinlove.com/2016/02/national-marriage-week-on-instagram.html 

Featured in a Health Journal-Marriage is good for your health! http://www.lifezette.com/healthzette/rejecting-divorce-for-the-healthiest-reasons/ 


STATEWIDE Radio Public Service Announcement throughout Wisconsin! http://wifamilycouncil.org/national-marriage-week-celebrate-gods-plan-for-marriagefamily/ 

Even In Bermuda!  Several days of activities.... http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20160206/ISLAND08/160209760&source=RSS 

Lots of BLOGS like this one!  Four Promises that Lead to a Happier Marriage http://www.patheos.com/blogs/faithonthecouch/2016/02/do-you-have-what-it-takes-4-promises-that-lead-to-a-happier-marriage/ 

PLUS I gave presentations last week in Washington, DC to groups of policy leaders, including in the U.S. Senate offices.

P.S.  
Please CONTINUE TO POST ANY marriage event for
free ALL YEAR LONG on our NATIONAL MARRIAGE CALENDAR at http://www.nmwusa-calendar.org/

Thank you so much for joining with us and others....together we can make a difference.

Yours for strengthening marriage,
Sheila Weber
Executive Director, National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7-14)


 

National Marriage Week USA is part of International Marriage Week, with 20 major countries around the world now mobilizing leaders and events to strengthen marriage in their countries.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter

Forward this email





National Marriage Week USA | 115 E 62nd Street | New York | NY | 10065

Candidates for Friday Five

1. Giving Up Options Before Making a Choice--a 24 Minute Audio on The Risks of Sliding






2. Love and marriage in medieval England

Emma Mason






3.The Subversive Power of the Kiss







5. 
Family Meals
Love to eat? Try family style
Regardless of the menu for your meal, eating with your family is good for you. Research has shown that family meals are an important opportunity to develop strong parent-child relationships and family connectedness. Children in families with lower incomes, and those whose parents have less education, are more likely to share meals.
READ MORE
Healthy Relationships
Addressing teen dating violence
We're working with the U.S. Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation to describe youth-serving healthy marriage and relationship education programs. This work will help identify promising approaches for promoting positive relationships. Healthy relationship skills can help prevent dating violence among youth. About one in eight high school girls reported having been a victim of dating violence in the past year, based on 2013 survey data.
 LEARN MORE






​6. ​
       Two important “clips” from Marriage Foundation

Looking for really useful clips that illustrate the devastating impact of family breakdown on everyone concerned? Well Marriage Foundation have come up with two really good ones:

·          The first, from Radio4, talks about “Splitting the Assets”

·          The second is a series of interviews by Sir Paul Coleridge of people caught up in the breakdown of relationships and familiesscreened as part of the Victoria Derbyshire show on BBC2 today!


via weekly email from Dave at http://www.2-in-2-1.com/



7. Marital Status May Be Risk Factor For Early- And Late-Onset Dementia






8. Positive 'Parents in Dispute' Programme Results Announced






9. The Clinton's Marriage Matters




10. DON’T FALL IN LOVE ON OKCUPID






11. The secret to a long-lasting marriage
Christina Breda Antoniades





Thanks Anna



Fwd: National Marriage Week Is Coming!


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nat'l Assoc. for Relationship & Marriage Education (NARME) <julie@narme.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 5, 2016 at 12:51 PM
Subject: National Marriage Week Is Coming!
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com



In This Issue
Dear Millennial Men, Don't Be Afraid of Marriage And Fatherhood
Dear Millennial men,
A few nights ago I heard frantic, terrified screams coming from my daughter's bedroom upstairs. Read More 
It's election season, and so, of course, we're talking about sexual misconduct. On the Republican side is a front-runner who matter-of-factly admits to an extramarital affair. Read More
OPINION: The tale of a full-time single dad
Everywhere I look, articles about single fathers are nowhere to be found, at least on the internet. Read More
Either we're raising the most responsible group of teenagers in history, or American parents have become extraordinarily lazy.
Read More
Many depressed teens don't get needed treatment
(Reuters Health) - Many teens diagnosed with depression don't immediately receive needed follow-up care even when therapy is recommended or medication is prescribed, a U.S. study suggests.  Read More
National Marriage Week Is Coming!

National Marriage Week USA (Feb. 7-14) is next week.  Anybody doing work to strengthen marriage is invited and encouraged to POST any marriage class/event all year long on the Online National Calendar at www.NationalMarriageWeekUSA.org, as a way of joining with others in this civic campaign to strengthen marriage...and to make sure that work is well represented!
Relationship Education Valuable for Teens and Fits New ESSA Guidelines
Early Intervention: The Impact of Relationship Education on Youth-the most recent RE study published by Healthy Relationships California (HRC)-helps quantify the benefits of RE for adolescents across all of their relationships, including with friends, romantic partners, parents, and siblings. These benefits include reduced bullying and reduced partner violence, areas of concern for parents and school administrators across America.  Read More
ALL THINGS SUMMIT
ANNOUNCING RON DEAL - PLENARY SPEAKER!
Ron L. Deal is founder of Smart Stepfamilies™and is the author/coauthor of five books, over a dozen published videos and resources, and hundreds of magazine and online articles.
 Ron is one of the most widely read authors on stepfamily living in the country and his one-minute radio feature FamilyLife Blended can be heard daily on stations nationwide and online. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist who frequently appears in the national media. Ron and his wife, Nan, have been married since 1986 and have three boys.
Her car slid on the ice and the rosary around the rearview mirror swung like a crazy pendulum. God, help me!
Though Stephanie didn't go to church anymore, prayer was her first reflex in a crisis. But as a single mom with two kids by two different men, she felt out of place in church.  Read More
Poor parenting and relationship conflict fuel suicide in teens and young adults
A mere two weeks into 2016, Guyana was left staggering with a series of reported cases of suicide; almost on
a daily basis new reports surfaced of someone taking their own life. The upshot: the country was left watching with bated breaths as the President, David Granger, called an emergency meeting to tackle the epidemic. 
Will the strategies work? Only time will tell. But what has been noticed is that issues of poor parenting and relationship conflicts are scarcely being addressed while the means of the suicide is being dealt with.  Read More 
On the lighter side...
"I've gone to war and I've had twins: I'd rather go to war."  George W.Bush.
Who finds parenting the most stressful, and who the least? Judging by the results of three recent studies, the answer hinges partly on the definition of stress. Read More
Why I Never Considered Living with My Husband Before Marriage
During our entire 22-month courtship and engagement, my husband and I lived five hundred miles apart and only saw each other on weekends and holidays. While we logged thousands of frequent-flier miles traveling back and forth between states, we rarely spent more than three days in the same city at a time. Most of our relationship took place over the phone and email.
Stay Connected

Like us on Facebook


Interested in joining NARME?
 narme.org

Nat'l Assoc. for Relationship & Marriage Education (NARME) |info@narme.org  | http://www.narme.org
P.O. Box 14946
Tallahassee, FL 32317



Copyright © 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Nat'l Assoc. for Relationship & Marriage Education (NARME), P.O. Box 14946, Tallahassee, FL 32317
Sent by julie@narme.org in collaboration with
Constant Contact

Candidates for Friday Five

1. The Clinton's Marriage Matters
Howard J. Markman, Ph.D
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-j-markman-phd/the-clintons-marriage-matters_b_9144428.html





2. 
Single moms' low rate of secure employment
New data show that more than one in four U.S. children did not have at least one resident parent who was employed full-time, year-round in 2013, the latest data available. The rate of secure parental employment for children with single mothers was only 42 percent. Find statistics and background about this and more than 100 other indicators of children's well-being at Child Trends' DataBank.
READ MORE





3. REVERSING THE FATHERHOOD CRISIS IN MEXICO






4. Married with Kids

Mary Tyler Mom






5. Getting married this summer? Stick to a small and simple wedding

Madeleine Somerville





6. Is This REALLY How Much It Costs To Get Married?








7. Turning the Tide Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good through College Admissions 

CREATED BY MAKING CARING COMMON, A PROJECT OF THE HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION












8. The health benefits of forgiving

TAMARA EL-RAHI








9. The 2016 Relationship Enhancement®
​ ​
and Filial Therapy Conference











Thanks Anna




Fwd: Special Workshops on Relationship Enhancement and Filial Methods


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: <newsletter@nire.org>
Date: Thu, Feb 4, 2016 at 6:00 PM
Subject: Special Workshops on Relationship Enhancement and Filial Methods
To: billcoffin68@gmail.com


Special Workshops on

Relationship Enhancement®

and Filial Methods

 

 

 

The 2016 Relationship Enhancement®

and Filial Therapy Conference

 

 

 

April 8-9, 2016 in Bethesda, MD

 

 

 

Co-Sponsored by

National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® (NIRE) and Association for Filial and Relationship Enhancement® Methods (AFREM)

 

CE Workshops

For the 2016 Relationship Enhancement® and Filial Therapy Conference, NIRE and AFREM are co-sponsoring two workshops on Friday April 8 and two workshops on Saturday April 9.

Friday will include two play related workshops: “Maintaining the Alliance: Using Parent Consults in Child-Centered Play Therapy to Teach Empathy to Parents” and “Not Limited to the Playroom:  Helping Parents Use Filial Limit Setting to Improve Discipline at Home.”

Saturday will include two RE Therapy related workshops: “Ethical Challenges in Working with Infidelity Issues in Marriage/Couple Therapy” and “The Experiential Format and the Use of Becoming in Relationship Enhancement® Therapy.” 

Each workshop qualifies for 3 CE credits.

 

Organized Friday Night Dutch Treat Dinner

This year’s traditional “Dutch Treat” dinner will be held on Friday night April 8. This well attended event always proves to be a fun time to connect and relax with friends and colleagues around the dinner table. Please join us if you can! Details below. And please RSVP so we can properly plan with the restaurant.

 

Registration

Registration information may be found below.

AFREM Special Workshops Registration Form

 

 

Friday Workshops

 

Maintaining the Alliance: Using Parent Consults in Child-Centered Play Therapy to Teach Empathy to Parents


Presenter: Ian Masson, M.S.

Discussants: Louise Guerney, Ph.D., RPT-S, William Nordling, Ph.D., RPT-S

Friday, April 8, 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. 3 CE credits

Parents are a critically important part of their child’s life and as such can do much to support their progress in therapy. Supporting parents in developing new ways of interacting with their child as their child makes changes during the therapeutic process can maximize therapeutic gains. Within the context of Child-Centered Play Therapy (CCPT) the parent consult session can provide a significant opportunity to build parent skills that will allow the child to capitalize on the progress they have made during play therapy sessions. As empathy is one of the core therapist skills in CCPT, teaching parents how to empathically respond to their children can create a therapeutic environment for children across settings. Teaching empathy as a foundational response of parents to children will also deepen a child’s sense of trust in the parent and serve to develop a warm relationship between parent and child. The workshop will focus on utilizing the parent consult session of CCPT as a means of teaching empathic responding to parents within the context of the therapist-parent alliance. Panel and participant discussion will be included.

 

Learning Objectives: Attendees completing this workshop will be able to:

  1. Effectively structure parent consult sessions within the context of CCPT.
  2. Apply the core skill of deep empathy to parent consults in order to address parental concerns and maintain the therapist-parent alliance.
  3. Explain the benefits and address challenges of empathic responding in a parent consultation session.
  4. Utilize "teachable moments" in parent discussions of home behavioral challenges to help them apply empathic responding at home.

 

Ian Masson, M.S., is a resident in counseling at Chrysalis Counseling Centers in Culpeper, VA. Ian received his certification in Child-Centered Play Therapy through NIRE and primarily works with children. Ian also oversees the Intensive Therapeutic Parenting Program at Chrysalis, a service that seeks to develop child-centered parenting skills through use of Dr. Louise Guerney's Parenting: A Skills Training Manual.

 

 

Louise Guerney, Ph.D., is co-creator with Bernard Guerney, Ph.D. of Filial Family Therapy. She also is author of Parenting: A Skills Training Manual (published by IDEALS/NIRE), a nationally recognized and widely used parenting program and, together with Virginia Ryan, of Group Filial Therapy (Jessica Kingsley, 2013).

 

William Nordling, Ph.D., RPT-S, is Academic Dean and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the Institute for Psychological Sciences. He is former Executive Director of NIRE and continues as a senior member of NIRE’s training faculty. He is co-author (with Jeffrey and Nancy Cochran) of Child-Centered Play Therapy: A Practical Guide to Developing Therapeutic Relationships with Children (Wiley, 2010).

 

Not Limited to the Playroom: Helping Parents Use Filial Limit-Setting to Improve Discipline at Home

Mary Ortwein, M.S., LMFT

Discussants:  Louise Guerney, Ph.D., Julie Dodson, M.A., Arpita Eusebius, M.A.

Friday, April 8, 2:00 - 5:15 p.m. 3 CE credits

The life events, stresses, family patterns, and symptoms that bring children to therapy often complicate parent discipline at home. Parents often err toward too much or too little, until parent-child power struggles can dominate the relationship. Limits during Filial Play sessions function to create safety for children in the playroom, so they can do the therapeutic or developmental work they need to do. Helping parents extend the Filial standards of clear, consistent, necessary, and enforced limits to ordinary discipline at home can extend the safety of the playroom to real life and help families recover balance.

How do you help parents generalize play session limits to everyday situations at home? How do you integrate Filial limit-setting with empathy, structuring, parent messages, and imposition of consequences in real life? This workshop will explore these questions, using classic and contemporary Filial videos, panel and participant discussion, and role play practice to enable participants to move parents toward generalization of Filial limit-setting skills to their daily lives at home.

 

Learning Objectives: Attendees completing this workshop will be able to:

 

  1. Use parent experiences of limit-setting during Filial sessions to identify guidelines for limit-setting and enforcement at home
  2. Use “teachable moments” in parent discussions of home discipline situations to help them apply Filial successes at home
  3. Use relevant learning from Louise Guerney’s Parenting Skills with Filial clients to enable them to use structuring and parent messages as well as limit-setting and consequences to foster desirable behavior in children at home

Mary Ortwein, MS., LMFT is the founder of IDEALS for Families and Communities (IFC), a mental health non-profit in Frankfort, Kentucky, which specializes in providing quality mental health services for the working poor and for those in shelters. Co-author with Bernard Guerney, Jr. of the Mastering the Mysteries of Love series of Relationship Enhancement materials and author of the Filial parent workbook, Mastering the Magic of Play, Mary is an experienced Relationship Enhancement therapist, supervisor, and trainer. She recently completed a Master's of Pastoral Theology at St. Meinrad Seminary.

Julie Dodson, M.A., is a Marriage and Family Therapy Associate and a Staff Therapist at IDEALS for Families and Communities where she provides therapy to children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families. Julie is certified in both Child-Centered Play Therapy and Filial Therapy. She also is a counselor at Avenues for Women, where she serves mainly women providing counseling for pregnancy options, relationships, resiliency, and trauma resolution. Julie earned a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2012. 

Arpita Eusebius, M.A., is a Marriage and Family Therapy Associate in Frankfort, KY, and a Staff Therapist at IDEALS for Families and Communities where she works with individuals of all age groups, couples and families. Arpita is certified in both Child-Centered Play Therapy and Filial Therapy. She also provides counseling services to two high schools and one middle school in Lexington, Kentucky. Arpita earned a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2013. 

 

Dinner, Friday Night, April 8, 6:30 p.m. Dutch Treat.

Following the Friday afternoon workshop, those who are interested will go out together as a group for dinner for fun, relaxation and an opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues. If you are interested in joining the group for dinner: Please be certain to sign up on the Registration Form. Advance payment is not necessary, but we do need to be able to give an accurate count to the restaurant.

 

Saturday Workshops

 

Ethical Challenges in Working with Infidelity Issues in Marriage/Couple Therapy

Robert Scuka, Ph.D., M.S.W., LCSW-C

Saturday, April 9, 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. 3 CE Credits

Some estimates indicate that infidelity may be involved in as many as 50% of cases presenting for marriage therapy or couple counseling. Infidelity also presents some of the most difficult clinical challenges in couple therapy, including a variety of ethical challenges. Those ethical challenges begin immediately at the initiation of joint therapy regarding issues of confidentiality, i.e., whether or not to grant confidentiality to each member of the couple. Additional challenges relate to how to balance individual sessions with the couple’s joint work; how to balance the need to address the infidelity issue with other potential issues in the relationship; and how to apply an existential-responsibility-for-choices-made framework without crossing into a moralistic stance of judgment. The workshop will also address steps to be taken by both the involved partner and the hurt partner to facilitate healing in the relationship. The Relationship Enhancement Therapy model will serve as the clinical framework for exploring these issues, but prior knowledge of RE Therapy is not required. Attendees will be sent a copy of the presenter’s recently published article “A Clinician’s Guide to Help Couples Heal from the Trauma of Infidelity,” which was published in 2015 in the Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy. Participant discussion is strongly encouraged and will be an important component of this workshop.

Learning Objectives: Attendees completing this workshop will be able to:

  1. Effectively apply their chosen stance on confidentiality within the context of couple therapy
  2. Balance the use of individual therapy sessions with joint couple sessions
  3. Balance the need to address the infidelity issue with other issues in the relationship
  4. Apply an existential-responsibility-for-choices-made framework without crossing the line into a moralistic stance of judgment
  5. Apply a balanced approach that addresses the tasks and responsibilities of both partners to facilitate a process of healing from infidelity

Rob Scuka, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® and author of Relationship Enhancement Therapy: Healing through Deep Empathy and Intimate Dialogue (Routledge, 2005), which contains three clinical vignettes on the use of RE therapy with cases of infidelity.

 

 

 

The Experiential Format and the Use of Becoming in Relationship Enhancement® Therapy

Moderator: Robert Scuka, Ph.D., M.S.W., LCSW-C

Discussants: Bernard Guerney, Jr., Ph.D., Maryhelen Snyder, Ph.D., Mary Ortwein, M.S., LMFT

Saturday, April 9, 2:00 – 5:15 p.m. 3 CE Credits.

The Experiential Format within Relationship Enhancement Therapy is a variation on the more structured Time-Designated Format. In the latter, the RE therapist typically takes several sessions to focus exclusively on skills-training with the couple (or family) in order to lay a foundation for the couple to enter into dialogue mode to begin to address their issues. 

In the Experiential Format, the therapist briefly introduces, demonstrates and/or models the RE dialogue process in order to launch the couple into their first dialogue sooner in the therapy process. This may also involve the therapist making an extended use of the Becoming mode of empathy in the first session with a couple, with a view to the couple then being able to employ this special mode of empathy with one another as their own dialogue unfolds.

Becoming involves what also is referred to as the Identification Mode of empathy, in contrast to the more conventional “You” mode of empathy, where the former involves the therapist (or couple) using the first person pronoun “I” to represent and re-enact the experience of the Expresser. The rationale for using this more specialized form of empathy is that it tends to create a deeper empathic representation of the Expresser’s experience, which in turn tends to have a deeper impact on the person receiving the empathy, often prompting deepened self-understanding and further self-disclosure.

This workshop will present three different videos. All three will illustrate variations on the Experiential Format, one with Dr. Guerney, a second with Dr. Scuka, and a third with Dr. Snyder. The first two videos will illustrate two variations on introducing a family or couple to the RE skills and dialogue process. The third video will illustrate the therapist making an extended use of the Becoming mode of empathy with a couple in a first session.

Learning Objectives: Attendees completing this workshop will be able to:

  1. Identify the unique characteristics of the RE Experiential Format compared to the Time-Designated Format
  2. Identify the circumstances under which a therapist might choose to employ the Experiential Format in preference to the Time-Designated Format
  3. Apply the Experiential Format in their own clinical work with couples or families
  4. Utilize the Identification or Becoming Mode of Empathy more effectively in their own clinical work 

Rob Scuka, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® and author of Relationship Enhancement Therapy: Healing through Deep Empathy and Intimate Dialogue (Routledge, 2005), along with a number of professional articles on RE Therapy and other therapy topics.

Bernard Guerney, Jr., Ph.D., is the creator of Relationship Enhancement® Therapy and the founder of the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement®. His book Relationship Enhancement (Josey-Bass, 1977) was the first formal theoretical statement of the RE Therapy and psychoeducational model.

Maryhelen Snyder, Ph.D., has been a mental health professional for 40 years, specializing much of that time in Relationship Enhancement therapy. She has authored many professional articles and book chapters and served as an adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico Medical School. She is also a poet. Her recent book Sun in an Empty Room (Mercury HeartLink, 2012) has a similar focus to her therapy work, which is wildly celebrative of human beings and human possibilities. Her most recent book of poetry is Never the Loss of Wings (Passager Books, 2015).

 

Mary Ortwein, M.S., LMFT is the founder of IDEALS for Families and Communities (IFC), a mental health non-profit in Frankfort, Kentucky, which specializes in providing quality mental health services for the working poor and for those in shelters. Co-author with Bernard Guerney, Jr. of the Mastering the Mysteries of Love series of Relationship Enhancement materials and author of the Filial parent workbook, Mastering the Magic of Play, Mary is an experienced Relationship Enhancement therapist, supervisor, and trainer. She recently completed a Master's of Pastoral Theology at St. Meinrad Seminary.

 

Registration Information

Location: The AFREM annual meeting and workshops will be held at the National Institute of Relationship Enhancement® (NIRE) conference suite on the Roof level of the Topaz House at 4400 East-West Highway, Bethesda, MD. The Topaz House is located six miles from the White House and Georgetown. NIRE is less than three blocks from the Bethesda metro stop.

Parking: Parking on Friday may be available at the Topaz House’s underground garage on a first come first served basis. There is a public parking lot at East-West Highway and Waverly Street, a block and a half from the Topaz House. Be certain to bring plenty of quarters for the public parking lot. The cost is $.75 per hour in long term parking; plan on 9 hours, i.e., $6.75[To be safe, bring a roll of quarters, as parking rates may have gone up.] Parking is free on Saturday. On Saturday parking should be easier at Topaz House, and is free at the public parking lot.

Schedule: Each workshop will be 3 hours long. There will be one 15 minute break during each workshop.  

Refreshments: Starting at 8:40 a.m., and available all day, each day, there will be a sidebar with fruit, coffee and tea, soda, and snacks.

CE Credits: IDEALS/NIRE is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. IDEALS/NIRE maintains responsibility for each program and its content. NIRE has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 5560. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. NIRE is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. IDEALS/NIRE is approved by the Maryland State Board of Social Workers to offer Category 1 continuing education programs for social workers. NIRE also is approved by the Association for Play Therapy to offer continuing education specific to play therapy. APT Approved Provider 95-009. IDEALS/NIRE maintains responsibility for the program. 

Each workshop will earn attendees 3 CE credits. 

A Certificate will be issued to you attesting to your completion of each workshop attended and documenting the CE credits you have earned.

Cost: The fee for each 3-hour workshop is $60. The fee for currently enrolled, full-time graduate students is $10.00 for each workshop, or $30 for all four workshops.

Lunch: Lunch each day is the responsibility of each participant, though arrangements will be made to provide lunch on Saturday for those who wish. The cost will be $10.00 per person. Please see the registration form below for details.

Optional Friday Night Dinner (Dutch Treat): Many participants at past AFREM annual meeting workshops have enjoyed each other’s company over dinner at a restaurant in Bethesda. We will do the same this year, on Friday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. While prepayment is not necessary, it is necessary for planning purposes to know who plans to attend, so please indicate on the registration form that you would like to attend the dinner so that we can make appropriate arrangements and reserve table space for our group. Some participants may also choose to go out to dinner on Saturday evening, but that will not be a formally organized event.

Travel: For those coming by air: NIRE is 15 miles from Washington National, 22 miles from Baltimore-Washington, and 18 miles from Dulles Airports. For those coming by car: NIRE is two miles south of the Connecticut Avenue exit or the Wisconsin Avenue exit of the Beltway (I-495).

Municipal parking is very close and is free on Saturday (at Waverly and East-West Highway). Be certain to bring plenty of quarters to feed the meter for parking on Friday. The cost is $.75 per hour in long term parking; plan on 9 hours, i.e., $6.75. (To be safe, bring a roll of quarters!) Parking is free on Saturday. All registrants will be sent a map detailing how to reach NIRE.

Accommodations: Discounted hotel rooms are available at the Bethesda Court Hotel. To secure the discounted rate, please call 1-800-874-0050 and ask for the “NIRE” rate, which for 2016 is $129 per night Thursday through Sunday, plus a $15.00 per night fee for parking. This discounted rate is available until the hotel reaches a certain point of capacity for the respective dates, so you are advised to make reservations as early as possible. Information about alternative accommodations can be provided when you register.

For Further Information about arrangements, call Chriss Stanton at 301-680-8977.

 

RegistrationTo register, please

(1) call NIRE at 301-680-8977 

(2) send your Registration Form by fax to 1-502-226-7088

or (3) mail your Registration Form and check to: NIRE, 4400 East-West Highway #24, Bethesda, MD 20814-4501.

Caution: Do not send credit card information via email.

Registration Form

AFREM Special Workshops Registration Form

 

We look forward to seeing you there!

Rob Scuka, Ph.D.
Executive Director
National Institute of Relationship Enhancement®



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