Introduction

Married and Loving It! helps couples learn how to strengthen their marital relationship through a series of interactive educational experiences. The purpose of the program is to equip couples with skills to build a healthy couple relationship. The program consists of 5 lessons that are offered as a series. However, individual classes may be taught independent of the series. Each lesson is based
upon research findings that support the content and skill training as being effective in building a healthy relationship. Married and Loving It! takes a positive prevention approach to marriage relationships rather than an intervention strategy.

Our Mission

To teach couples skills to build, establish, and strengthen a healthy marriage relationship. The focus is on the development of practical knowledge and skills that will help participants learn how to enjoy sharing their lives with each other.

Our Philosophy

Marriage is a unique relationship that has the potential to be a source of satisfaction and fulfillment or one of frustration and despair. To achieve satisfaction and fulfillment, married couples must adapt to a variety of stressful events and circumstances they will encounter over the course of their marriage. Their ability to navigate these challenging situations and to resolve their differences in a healthy manner is what will help them succeed in building a healthy relationship. It is assumed that couples can learn knowledge and skills to assist them in developing a healthy relationship while preventing the deterioration of marital quality. Marriage education is an effective way to teach couples how to
develop skills needed to establish a healthy relationship.

Survey

In 2003, the Social Sciences Research Unit of the University of Idaho conducted a telephone survey to the participants of the Married and Loving It! program. There were 110 participants. Seventy-five percent had participated in Married and Loving It! one to three years prior to the survey.

• Overall Satisfaction with program-99.2% Satisfied or Very Satisfied
• Marital Satisfaction rate of satisfied or very satisfied prior to participating in the program -66%
• Marital Satisfaction rate of satisfied or very satisfied immediately after participating in the program 92%
• Marital Satisfaction rate of satisfied or very satisfied at the time of the survey - 93%

• Clearly communicate -92.2%
• Express love - 92.1%
• Identify sources of anger -93.1%
• Resolve issues - 83.8%
• Make decisions -92.2%
• Develop relationships with in-laws - 86.3%
• Manage the amount of time they spend together - 80.4%