A special message from Patty Howell, Executive Director

The nonprofit Marriage Education Institute was founded to strengthen relationships through Online learning. The Institute offers programs for singles, couples and professionals (with CE Credits available).

For professionals, workshops usually require taking time away from your practice and the expenses of travel. And for couples, ordinary classroom courses present additional hurdles of finding a program when both partners are available, finding a baby-sitter, and overcoming the fear of talking about personal matters before strangers. Moreover, the course you might want to take isn’t always available near where you live.

The beauty of our Online format is its ability to achieve results equal or superior to classroom courses, along with the convenience of “Anywhere, Any time” learning. You simply log on, in complete privacy—from home, office, or even Starbucks, at any hour of the day or night, and communicate with the Instructor and other participants and engage in the week’s lesson. Exercises and skill practice can be scheduled at convenient times. Plus no hotel, meals or baby-sitter expense.

As a Marriage Educator, I have often heard myself say that “Everyone ought to take World Class Marriage™ (the program Ralph Jones and I developed) and 17 other Marriage Education courses as well.” Ralph and I have seen the great help World Class Marriage makes in couples’ lives. And, we also know the relationship-damaging habits that almost every couple struggles with—habits that become difficult impediments to lifelong happiness. To counteract the undertow of typical dysfunctional behaviors, as well as the dysfunctional models we are exposed to in our daily lives, continual learning is key to creating lasting change and lasting happiness.

Diane Sollee, Executive Director of the Coalition of Marriage, Family, and Couples Education, has said it best: “Marriage is a skills-based relationship”. Yet, where in society do people learn the skills that create successful marriages? The problem isn’t that there aren’t excellent Marriage Education programs available, because there are. Over the past 30 years, many excellent programs have been developed, with research showing their positive impact on the couples who take them. Yet, most couples don’t even take one Marriage Education program! The norm in our society is still for couples to meet, fall in love, get married, and hope for the best. Unfortunately, for 50% of all couples, their hopes, dreams, and expectations are shattered. Their marriage ends in divorce, and this has a strongly negative impact not only on their personal happiness, but also on their productivity at work and their health—both mental and physical. And, unfortunately, a strongly negative impact on their kids as well. The impact of divorce has become well documented, and it isn’t a pretty picture. This social epidemic will necessitate social change—to make Marriage Education widely available, and indeed, to make it trendy! Marriage Education must be seen as an important part of everyone’s growth as a human being—starting well before you enter into a serious relationship, continuing as you select your partner, and then during every year of your lives together. We sincerely encourage you--and everyone--to take 17 Marriage Education courses!

That’s why we’re here. We created the Marriage Education Institute to provide a convenient way to equip people with the skills they need for relationship success. We strongly believe that relationship education is the key to making important changes in people’s lives, and our goal is nothing short of bringing better relationship skills into the mother’s milk of our culture. And we’re doing this through the convenience of Online learning—to make quality Marriage Education programs accessible and affordable to people throughout society.

We invite you to join with us. Our mission is to help couples make their relationship work —and we’d like to work with you in this important endeavor.

Best regards,

Patty Howell, Ed.M., A.G.C.
Executive Director
Marriage Education Institute
Phowell@MarriageEd.org
______________________

We gratefully acknowledge start-up funding and other assistance provided by the Institute for Youth Development.
______________________