By Tippi Rasp

Lifestyles Editor



Divorce rates are up. Two-parent families are down. Helping professionals are taking more and more calls for couples’ therapy.

All indicators are pointing the same direction — while couples struggle to make their relationships work, they sometimes lack the tools and understanding to get the job done.

That’s where a local agency and a state-wide initiative are joining forces to provide a community-based workshop to teach couples how to enhance their relationship and beat the odds.

Youth & Family Services of North Central Oklahoma will host Make the Connection: A Weekend Getaway for Couples July 24-26. The workshop is 6-9 p.m. July 24-25 and 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m. July 26. To register, go to www.yfsenid.org or call YFS at 233-7220. The workshop is free and snacks and Saturday lunch is provided.

The workshop is for married couples, engaged couples or any couple in a relationship.

The workshop is facilitated by Lori Bartley, a licensed professional counselor and clinical director at YFS, and Doug Wade, a YFS counselor in candidacy for licensed marriage and family therapist.

Both Bartley and Wade are PREP (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) trained and certified by Oklahoma Marriage Initiative to conduct the workshop.

Bartley said besides getting three nights away from the children, couples will learn how a healthy relationship and positive communication will enhance their children’s lives.

“Research shows parents — couples — are where (children) get security (through) a strong, united couple,” Bartley said. “It’s important for the kids to get that understanding and sense of security.”

Bartley said the workshop will include videos and exercises that will help couples communicate better.

“It’s mostly about communication,” Bartley said.

One reason engaged couples should consider the workshop is because it provides a significant discount on the cost of a marriage license. Engaged couples who attend and complete the program together are eligible to pay only $5 instead of $50 for an Oklahoma marriage license.



About Oklahoma Marriage Initiative and PREP



Providing marriage education workshops is at the core of OMI, an initiative started in 2000, by then-Gov. Frank Keating. OMI was launched to help reverse the trend of divorce in Oklahoma.

The OMI is a statewide public/private partnership dedicated to strengthening families and helping couples gain access to services to help “build and sustain healthy marriages,” according to the OMI’s Web site.

The Marriage Initiative has exclusively chosen the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP®) for the marriage workshops delivered throughout the state.

PREP marriage education workshops are designed to teach practical skills that will enhance marriage or prepare couples for a future marriage.

Most people aren’t born with the knowledge of how to make a marriage work and could benefit from a workshop that provides marriage education.

In the marriage workshop, each couple will receive couple manuals that will guide the couple through the workshop as well as provide take home exercises that will maximize the benefit you receive from the marriage education workshop.