Marriage Support Resources
Marriage educators attend ROM conference
Article written by Karin Abrams, read full article here
The Body Matters Program
The Body Matters, based on St. John Paul’s life-affirming Theology of the Body (TOB), is a teaching tool intended to assist primary educators (parents) in forming their children, and to be inserted into already-existing curricula at Catholic schools and parish faith formation programs. In November 2015, TOBET’s Episcopal Advisory Board, led by Archbishop Samuel Aquila, confirmed the need to create an original, inspiring, age-appropriate TOB program. Despite common misconceptions about TOB, The Body Matters is not a “birds-and-bees” centered program. Rather, its purpose is to form children in the faith and to combat the destructive messages they absorb from the culture. While not addressing these controversial issues directly, The Body Matters program, infused with St. John Paul’s theology, will restore the dignity of the human person and form families and their children in the truths of the Catholic faith, precisely through a deeper understanding of the human BODY
SmartLoving BreakThrough
SmartLoving BreakThrough is a short online course that helps spouses better understand how conflict happens in a relationship. It leads them through a process of forgiveness so that they can be less reactive and more intentional in their marriage and equips them with simple strategies to improve their situation. Also available as a facilitators resource to run live workshops (approx 3 hours).
SmartLoving Engaged Online
A multimedia course that seamlessly integrates practical relationship skills, sacramental theology and couple testimony. Grounded in the Theology of the Body, every registration includes a coupon code to the Sponsor version of the course for a parish married couple to accompany the engaged (optional uptake). * videos with high production values * quizzes and final assessment, time and progression locks to ensure participation and monitor learning * imprimatur granted * includes access to Member articles and SmartLoving Fertility
Mini Marriage Course
Dr. Greg Bottaro offers couples a dose of what can help their marriage by integrating Catholic theology and spirituality with psychological research and his clinical experience with marriage therapy. The course is free and is delivered over the web. It consist of approximately 1 hour of footage on topics such as the deeper meaning of sacramental marriage vows, love languages, Gottman insights on the 4 horseman and how to argue effectively and the differences between men and women and how this impacts marriage.
Beloved Series – Finding Happiness in Marriage
Beloved is a 12 part series that provides a rich exploration of the Church's teaching on marriage and the family along with testimonies from a number of couples that highlights the practical embodiment of the teaching. This is a high quality production that also captures the thinking of some of the top US based lay experts on marriage and the family. It can be purchased in a DVD format or through a video on demand service called FORMED. Each episode has an accompanying study guide for engaged or marriage couples.
Better Together Marriage Inventory
Great communication is essential to having a great marriage. This marriage prep/enrichment inventory is a FREE questionnaire designed to celebrate strengths and highlight opportunities for growth between couples. Dynamic Catholic have partnered with Catholic psychologist Dr. Gregory Bottaro, director of The CatholicPsych Institute, to develop the inventory that encourages couples to talk about important topics to help them connect on a deeper level as they review their answers together.
CathFamily
CathFamily (Making the Home the Heart of the Church) is a database of free resources including prayers, rituals, crafts, recipes, and articles for use by parents and teachers to build a Catholic culture in the home and class room. It has a strong emphasis on relationships and the Theology of the Body informs its relationship resources. The eNews (free) is issued each week and indexes the relevant items for that week according to the church season.
Notre Dame symposium brings together theologians, social scientists to discuss family
To read original Q&A post click here This week
Catholic Marriage on the Rise
Despite a decline in the number of Catholic weddings in
SmartLoving Fertility
An online course that explores the basics of human fertility and the application of fertility awareness for family planning. Based on the Sympto-thermal method, the course includes printable charts and step-by-step instruction for those wishing to learn and apply the method. The course also includes couple activities so that husband and wife can explore their thoughts and emotions as they progress. A unique feature of SmartLoving Fertility is the 'Couple Check In' - a guided process to assist couples in discerning their pregnancy intention based on Humanae Vitae n10.
My Personal Vision of Catholic Marriage Counselling
The following script is adapted from the notes of a