Online Lessons Help Couples Make More Time for Their Relationship
Couples can learn to communicate more effectively by participating in Couple Talk, an online program from University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension.
The free lessons don't require crowding more appointments into already busy schedules according to Kathy Bosch, NU family life specialist. Electronic delivery allows couples to use the skill-building lessons at home when it's convenient.
Because of busy schedules, it may not work that both individuals can take the class together, However, one of the partners can take the class and then share the information and both can benefit.
Couple Talk is not designed to replace professional marriage counseling. The program consists of six do-it-yourself lessons to help couples learn to communicate effectively, practice listening skills, and balance demands of work, family and community while making time for their relationship.
Lessons are practical and easy to discuss between partners, she said. For example, a relatively simple conversational change choosing an I message, such as I feel bad when you leave the car with an empty tank instead of You never fill the gas tank, can prompt action, not anger.
Couples can enroll online at http://www.panhandle.unl.edu/coupletalk for the three weeks of two weekly classes that start Sept. 22.
Couples who don't have a personal computer usually can access CoupleTalk at a public library at little or no cost, or they can pick up the self-help program materials at their local Cooperative Extension office.
The self-help program was developed by Charlotte Shoup Olsen, Kansas State family systems specialist.
Source: Kathy Bosch - Ph.D. University of Nebraska Family Life Specialist.
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