TORONTO -- A workshop presented from the perspective of the United Church of Canada is hoping to help committed couples seeking to recharge their relationships.
The United in Marriage Communication Workshop for Couples provides twosomes the chance to spend a weekend working on strengthening their communication skills and relationship bond.
The workshops are typically led by three or four leadership couples who share their own stories and experiences while in turn encouraging participants to examine their own lives.
Longtime United Church of Canada member Murray Wilson said the program evolves out of one that he and his wife, Elaine, have been involved in for about 25 years.
Unlike the previous program, which was more centred on heterosexual couples, the workshops have broadened in scope and are open to couples of all faiths, regardless of age, sexual orientation, gender identity and marital status.
"Each session at the workshop addresses a common area in the lives of couples where we can either make our relationships stronger by communicating well, or we can weaken our relationships by communicating poorly, sometimes by withdrawing completely," said Elaine Wilson.
While there are no group discussions, participants gather together to listen to nearly a dozen presentations by facilitators. They are also given time for keeping a journal, private reflection and discussing their discoveries with their partner.
"For some couples, it's a major discovery that they can actually talk about their feelings with each other and that they discover how meaningful their relationship can be by talking about their feelings," said Elaine Wilson. "For other couples, it's an affirmation that they're on the right track already."
While marriage preparation classes or workshops help couples get ready for what they'll experience well down the road in their unions, Murray Wilson said the workshop differs because participants are discussing the effects of similar issues in the here and now.
"It's more with the leadership acting as a catalyst to the couples for them to recognize themselves in the story and then recognize how we or other leadership have worked our way through various problems or crises."
The next United in Marriage Workshop is slated to take place in Toronto on Nov. 14, with another one planned for either British Columbia or Alberta in March 2009.
-- The Canadian Press
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