"This institute is consistently one of the highest rated sessions at the Smart Marriages conference.
They get absolutely rave reviews."
- Diane Sollee, director

103 Three Days - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, July 6, 7, 8
Family Wellness: Skills for Families in Changing Times
George Doub, MDiv, Ana Morante, MFT
An effective, practical model for marriage and family educators, teachers, clergy, military, foster care, community and clinical practitioners to teach individuals, couples, and whole families the key skills for healthy marriage and family life. Core theory, content and coaching skills demonstrated and practiced. Ideas for multicultural, minority and alternative families. $150 spouse discount. Couples will receive two instructor manuals.

Family Wellness: Survival Skills for Healthy Families is a 12-hour course for couples, individuals, and entire families that teaches the basic skills and patterns that strengthen and support individual, couple and family growth and wellness. This institute provides the knowledge and skills to use this program in your community to empower couples and families and promote healthy communities. The training is designed for marriage and family educators, social workers, ministers, therapists, mental health professionals, social services, foster and adoptive care, juvenile justice professionals, teachers, and community leaders.

Certification in this core curriculum allows attendees to teach The Strongest Link: The Couple curriculum developed by Family Wellness Associates. This curriculum has been used by Family Bridges in Chicago, Better Together in Cleveland, the Grand Rapids Marriage Initiative Project, and the Strengthening Families Initiative through New Mexico State University.

The Family Wellness programs are known for their interactive, blue collar style and history of working with multicultural communities. Sessions and content can be easily adapted based on your community or program needs. All materials necessary for presenting this Survival Skills curriculum are provided during the training.

 The training consists of the following:
•    Core theory and content: You will see trainers teach and demonstrate coaching skills in the moment based on sound theory from the social sciences. This highly interactive program teaches skills in the moment using relevant situations to help participants practice new skills and behaviors.
•    You will participate in hands-on practice of coaching skills. Trainers will coach you to be able to coach your participants to talk, listen, and work out problems in a new way. These skills can be used at home, at work, in an educational setting or in the therapy office.
•    You will learn strategies for marketing and recruiting participants.

Objectives:
•     Be familiar with the history of marriage, parent and family education.
•    Know three applications of marriage or family education for ethnic and at-risk populations and alternative families.
•    Know the theory underlying the Survival Skills for Healthy Families course.
•    Know the content of the six-session course.
•    Know the three skills and three patterns needed for families to develop healthy individuals.
•    Know how to identify and build on the strengths of individuals, couples, and families.
•    Identify three alternatives to physical discipline.
•    Know how to coach couples to be a parenting team as well as loving partners.
•    Know three basic skills for teaching large groups of individuals, couples and families.
•    In teams, practice using the skills for teaching the course.
•    Know three strategies for working with agencies, schools and churches to present a marriage or family education course.
•    Be familiar with research that supports the effectiveness of marriage and family education and behavioral rehearsal for healthy change.

ATTENDEES WILL RECEIVE:   
Instructor Manual, Interactive Workbook, and CD with master copies of handouts used for teaching the course.

The Institute trains and certifies instructors in the core Family Wellness program. Instructors certified in the Survival Skills for Healthy Families program may teach any of the Family Wellness curricula, including, The Strongest Link: The Couple, The Wellness Way for Stepfamilies, Survival Skills for Healthy Christian Families, and Skills and Strengths for Families Affected by Domestic Violence.

The Strongest Link: The Couple is a Family Wellness curriculum that includes best ways to recruit, keep, and teach couples. It includes six core sessions for couples and six optional sessions that address any program’s needs. Topics include the two cultures couples bring to their relationship, deployments and long separations, in-laws, new parents, stepfamilies, blowing on the embers of romance, and helping participants to take their newly learned skills into the community. Use for retreats, courses and weekend seminars.

Stepfamilies compose over 60 percent of today’s families. The Family Wellness Way for Stepfamilies is a curriculum that strengthens stepfamilies and offers practical skills and effective tips for the special challenges they face in growing as a couple and raising children.

Domestic Violence affects families, neighbors, and the generations that follow. The Skills and Strengths for Families Affected by Domestic Violence curriculum is being used in California to prevent domestic violence, as well as intervene, in affected families. Twelve sessions build strengths in survivors and help those who use power and control to work toward becoming more respectful and trusting.

Survival Skills for Healthy Christian Families is based on the original Survival Skills curriculum as seen through the lens of a biblical worldview. This curriculum teaches practical skills built on the foundation of Scripture. The curriculum offers ideas for using the material in alternative settings, including small groups, Sunday school, workshops, and retreats. Additional Bible study suggestions are also included.

Survival Skills for Healthy Families and The Strongest Link: The Couple are also available in Spanish. The Survival Skills Family Workbook is available in English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese.

For additional information about Family Wellness, visit www.familywellness.com or call 209-543-3808 or toll-free: 888-543-3809.

This institute is part of the week-long Smart Marriages conference.

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