Oprah features PREPARE/ENRICH

The Couple Checkup, a best-selling book by the creators of the PREPARE/ENRICH marital readiness inventory, is featured on Oprah's TV show.

From AOL Video

The short segment includes an interview with a sample couple and a contribution from PREPARE/ENRICH founder, Dr David Olsen.

Based on an unprecedented national survey of 50,000 marriages, The Couple Checkup presents the principles for creating a successful couple relationship. The free online profile includes fifteen to twenty categories that are customized based on the relationship stage-whether dating, engaged, or married-the age, and whether or not children are involved. The book also includes the SCOPE Personality Profile and the Couple and Family Map of the relationship.

The Couple Checkup is designed to help you and your partner build a more satisfying and intimate relationship. Just answering the questions will stimulate thoughts and attitudes about your relationship. It is designed to activate dialogue, discovery, and increase the overall quality of your relationship.

The Couple Checkup will help you discover your strengths as a couple. Strengths are what enable you to enjoy, and to continue developing a healthy relationship. It will also help you identify issues that are threatening the vitality of your relationship and may need to be addressed.

Whether you are dating, engaged or married, the Couple Checkup is valuable and relevant. After indicating the stage of your relationship, the Couple Checkup will automatically select applicable questions for you and your partner. It is designed for any couple desiring to enrich their relationship.

Jennifer and Fi: 160 questions

"A gathering of ideas, rants, reflections leading up to the big day" is how Jennifer describes her She Weds blog. In a recent Pre Marriage Counseling post Jennifer writes about how she and her Fi (fiance) took the PREPARE/ENRICH readiness inventory.

"160 questions about finances, sexual issues, spirituality, family planning, our families, feelings, how we fight, how we make up...".

Jennifer, who is based in Arizona, USA, writes:

One thing I observed while taking the test is that how far Fi and I have come. There were a few 'division of labor' questions regarding household chores and future parenting. Fi and I have been together for over 5 years and have lived together for 4. So we have already divided our labor.

Fi does the kitchen, I clean the bathroom and vacuum and together we keep clutter down and do laundry. We split cooking evenly throughout the week. I coach on Tuesdays and have track on Wednesdays- he makes dinner. When Fi is in school, I pull a heavier load because his educational pursuits are important to me.

You can read Jennifer's thoughts on taking the PREPARE/ENRICH inventory in full here.

Prepare for a wedding - and a marriage

Who could disagree with Lindsay Plumer, licensed family therapist, certified PREPARE/ENRICH counsellor and Live, Laugh and Love blogger, when she writes?

Many couples spend more time planning the wedding or commitment ceremony itself than they do preparing for their future as a married couple.

Continues Lindsay, who is based in Folsom, California: "Marriage is hard work ... it takes a lot of effort and skills that just aren’t typically taught in a classroom. I encourage all couples that are considering making a lifetime commitment to consider a program of preparation such as PREPARE/ENRICH in order to maximize the potential of their relationship."

Celebrant Kim now PREPARE/ENRICH certified

Congratulations to Kim Kirkley of Brooklyn, New York, who has just joined the ranks of the 60,000-plus certified PREPARE/ENRICH counsellors in the US. She has also created a new blog entitled Celebrant Kim.

Kim also runs the Our Elegant Ceremony website and her excellence as a celebrant has been featured in Modern Bride magazine and on TheKnot website. Check out this ‘Thank You’ note from a well-satisfied client.

Writes Kim:

As a Celebrant, interfaith minister, and wedding officiant, I believe that a ceremony is an extraordinary event in our lives. It is one of the few occasions where we have the chance to stand in the power of ceremony and notice that each of our lives has meaning.

I respect every individual and most belief systems – religious, spiritual or secular. In every ceremony my goal is to celebrate who the participants are – their beliefs and values.

We wish Kim every future success.