Dr. Trathen & Associates

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May 14, 2008


	Pre-Marital Coaching

Pre-marital and marital relationship adjustment is a process. To guide engaged couples through that process, Dr. Dan Trathen has published A Christian Pre-Marital Manual. This manual is a comprehensive, self-paced coaching program that can be supplemented by face-to-face or telephone coaching.

In addition, Dr. Dan Trathen and his associates offer personality assessment tests for couples contemplating marriage, as well as Individual Coaching and Couples Coaching. These services help each member of the couple better understand themselves and their relationship style.

Relationship Adjustment

Couples experiencing relational adjustment actively work at their relationship through exchanging positive behaviors, and reinforcing positive behaviors they receive from their partner. They have a confidence in each other and their relationship. This necessitates being direct in both communication and conflict resolution. In such a relationship, couples may not always experience high levels of satisfaction, but they are committed to loving each other and meeting each other's needs.

Dr. Dan Trathen's Christian Pre-Marital Manual guides couples through a self-paced coaching program that includes these topics:

expectations in marriage
establishing marriage goals
maintaining intimacy
understanding communication and conflict resolution in marriage
marital roles
sex in marriage

Each session suggests reading and homework assignments. Coaching on any or all topics is available via face to face or via telephone. One-day intensive Pre-Marital Coaching sessions can be scheduled in our Colorado office.

Pre-Marital Assessments

There are a variety of assessment tests used at Dr. Trathen & Associates to help a couple understand their personal and relational strengths and limitations. The primary tools are the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®, Taylor Johnson Temperament Analysis, and PREPARE 2000. The results of these tools provide a helpful baseline for any couple to understand where to focus their time and resources as they seek to build and maintain a strong relationship.

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The Challenge for Today's Couples

Today more than ever, it is important for a couple to prepare themselves for marriage well before their wedding day. A couple must set expectations for the marriage and each other in all aspects of their lives together: communication, finances, sex, children, lifestyle, time together, independence, religion, etc. Not doing so can result in conflict, depression, and other "irreconcilable differences" that so often result in unhappy marriages or divorce.

Divorce and marital dissatisfaction are experienced by couples in all cultural, socioeconomic, and geographical areas. For example, newlyweds in the United States face a 40% likelihood of getting divorced in the first year of marriage, and overall, four out of ten first marriages end in divorce (National Center for Health Statistics). Numerous other couples never divorce but live in distressed and or abusive relationships. It has been estimated that among marriages that do not end in divorce, 50% are unhappy and only 10% of married couples remain consistently satisfied in their relationship. Marital dissatisfaction also bears potential ramifications for children. How couples communicate and handle conflict even before they have children has been found to predict levels of self-esteem and attachment in their children four to six years later.

Dr. Dan Trathen and his associates provide a comprehensive set of services that can help couples determine if they are right for each other, and avoid the prospect of an unhappy marriage or divorce.



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