Trouble in paradise: couples seek solace in URI therapy program

10/09/08 - Anticipating relationship issues with your significant other? PREPARE yourself. The Premarital Personal and Relationship Evaluation program is intended to help couples identify and resolve future relationship problem areas clinic coordinator Dale Blumen said.

The program is not exclusively for couples anticipating marriage in the short-term, but is offered to anyone who is in a long-term, committed relationship, Blumen said.

Family social science professor David Olson of the University of Minnesota developed the PREPARE program in 1980 through his company, Life Innovations.

Couples participating in the program fill out a questionnaire, which is then sent in for computer processing. Based on the questionnaire, the system identifies areas of strength and weakness in the relationship.

"It's valid and reliable, it's fantastic," Blumen said. "It really does measure what it's supposed to measure."

According to the Life Innovations, Inc., Web site, the program is 80 to 85 percent accurate in differentiating between couples that will have happy marriages and those that will get divorced.

Significant issues in the questionnaire include communication, conflict resolution, personality issues, sexual expectations and spiritual beliefs.

Counselors then work with couples to help them address those areas in need of improvement.

"We want to give [couples] the skills so they can address those areas and have more satisfying relationships," Blumen said.

The clinic offers several variations of the program, including one for couples with children from prior relationships, and one geared toward unmarried cohabiting couples.

Other variations offered are ENRICH, designed for married couples seeking improvement, and MATE, for older couples facing the unique issues of aging.

While no students are currently participating in the program, Blumen sees a need for the service within the student body.

"My guess would be on a campus of this size there would be students in committed relationships who run into snags in those relationships, and with a little bit of information . and then a little bit of help from a person who knows the right tools to use, they can identify and work through their issues."

The PREPARE program is not new to the university. The Family Therapy Clinic has offered the program since 1983.

"We just haven't really highlighted it before," Blumen said. "What we've realized . and don't ask me why it took so long to realize this, is that there are a lot of student couples on campus."

The Family Therapy Clinic is an outpatient mental health center staffed by graduate students. The students work under faculty supervision as part of URI's accredited graduate program in marriage and family therapy.

Counseling sessions are confidential and are conducted one-on-one. Sessions are by appointment only. The first three are free to students, after which a sliding fee scale is applied, ranging from $10 to $35 per session.