BYU’s Comprehensive Clinic will offer a six-week premarital group program for couples preparing for marriage.
This program has been around for about 20 years. Topics may include finances, traditions, gender roles, intimacy, marital expectations and conflict resolution. The group will meet on Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Group leader Kersti Spjut said the premarital group program offered at the clinic is a fun way to help engaged couples develop practical skills to help their marriages stay healthy and strong.
“A great deal of research shows that couples who attend these groups do much better in marriage because they can avoid problems that are common but difficult to avoid without training,” Spjut said.
Spjut quoted an old saying: “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.” She said that’s the premise of this group: to help happy, healthy couples stay as happy and healthy as possible throughout their marriages.
Clinic director Dean Barley said that a common goal of the group is to facilitate the transition from single to married life, and to increase marital satisfaction the first year of marriage.
“The group facilitators are graduates in either clinical psychology or marriage and family therapy,” Barley said.
Spjut said each class includes some formal instruction, as well as activities for the couples to practice the skills taught, all based on scientifically supported techniques. Other topics include communication, cultural issues and differences, values, marital expectations and ideas for marital enhancement.
The group is open to all engaged couples who are interested. Call the BYU Comprehensive Clinic at 801-422-7759 to schedule a brief phone intake interview to join this group. A one-time fee of $15 will be required to join.
The dates will be set after couples sign up for the program. A minimum of three couples is needed before the six-week program.
The Comprehensive Clinic also offers a cancer support group and a coping-with-depression group. Other group sessions can be viewed at its website comprehensiveclinic.byu.edu/Pages/Groups.aspx.
