It’s an understatement that humans seek an intimate partner to obtain security, appreciation, and tenderness throughout their lives. However, many couples often go “blind” to their relationships, misjudging how it takes more than love to keep a marriage alive. Relationships like marriage, which are also a partnership and the key player in founding a family, contribute to overall life satisfaction as much as health, occupation, and income does.
For this reason, Engl and colleagues conducted a study in Germany to analyze if a Learning Program for Premarital Couples would be effective on a long-term basis to increase relationship satisfaction, seeing that the current satisfaction with the relationship declines continuously in the first ten years of marriage. The researchers also noticed that many couples live in stable partnerships even though they are not happy anymore for the sake of other aspects of their marriage, such as raising their kids.
Pointing out that divorce is one of the most stressful situations someone can go through in life, it affects not only the couple itself but the society at large. Its effects can spread to diverse parts of society, including but not limited to economics, health and wellbeing, safety, behavioral issues, and academic levels.
The critical point of these learning programs is not to prevent conflicts between couples but to improve the couple’s skills in dealing with future conflicts. The programs help people address their feelings more openly and transparently express themselves. Throughout the study, the researchers saw that after 25 years, the study participants had a lower divorce rate (about 5%) compared to those who didn’t participate in the program (about 26%).
Relate Well Live Well aims to restore the Institution of Family through healthy and stable marriages. Based on this research, it was proved that action-oriented training in partnership skills, such as communication and problem solving, is critical to prevent future relationship issues. In the same way, Relate Well Live Well educational programs aim to develop more harmonious and fulfilling relationships for all.