Many-but not all marital enrichment programs have proven to be effective in changing marital functioning. Negative effects have been found for some couples in some popular programs. For example, research on the Marriage Encounter program found that some couples rated their relationship more negatively after an intervention than before Doherty et al, 1982(as cited by Ripley, & Worthington, 2007) usually those whose marriage was troubled at the outset of the weekend. The hope-focused program is similar to most popular couple enrichment programs. It focuses on communication skills and conflict resolution. In the forgiveness-based marital enrichment program, the focus is on forgiveness as an essential skill for couples to learn in their marriage. Couples seek out the help of couple therapy to try to resolve marital issues with the help of a professional. In order for any treatment to work there are there are a few aspects that must be recognized (1) the couple must be in mutual agreement that therapy is needed (2) both individuals must be willing to work towards change (3) they must be open minded to faith and hope. The hope focused couple approach use these aspects to help assess and determine what type of intervention the couple will benefit from the
Many-but not all marital enrichment programs have proven to be effective in changing marital functioning. Negative effects have been found for some couples in some popular programs. For example, research on the Marriage Encounter program found that some couples rated their relationship more negatively after an intervention than before Doherty et al, 1982(as cited by Ripley, & Worthington, 2007) usually those whose marriage was troubled at the outset of the weekend. The hope-focused program is similar to most popular couple enrichment programs. It focuses on communication skills and conflict resolution. In the forgiveness-based marital enrichment program, the focus is on forgiveness as an essential skill for couples to learn in their marriage. Couples seek out the help of couple therapy to try to resolve marital issues with the help of a professional. In order for any treatment to work there are there are a few aspects that must be recognized (1) the couple must be in mutual agreement that therapy is needed (2) both individuals must be willing to work towards change (3) they must be open minded to faith and hope. The hope focused couple approach use these aspects to help assess and determine what type of intervention the couple will benefit from the