How is The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military workshop for professionals different from that offered to couples?
While the Marriage and Military Life workshop is designed to provide couples with tools that will help them evaluate and strengthen their relationships, The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military workshop for professionals is based upon the premise that most dating, engaged and married military couples do not come to military counselors and chaplains for premarital or marital counseling. The interactive workshop helps participants learn how self-help instruments like the Marriage and Military Life inventory and The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military can most effectively be used not only by those they counsel, but also by thousands of other couples that ordinarily would never come to them for assistance. In so far as professionals are given copies of The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military to read prior to the workshop, substantial time is allotted for an interactive discussion of the best ways to address the major problems encountered by military couples. Because The Survival Guide already reflects input from hundreds of military couples, counselors, chaplains and members of the clergy, professionals not only leave the workshop with new insights into how they can not only better counsel their personnel, but also how they can reach countless couples that are hesitant, for a variety of reasons, to avail themselves of their professional training and experience.
Outline of Workshop
I. Introduction (Explanation of goal and methodology)
A. Goal: To offer military professionals new insights into counseling married, engaged and dating personnel and their partners, and to provide them with effective self-help and self-grading tools that can be used by many couples that ordinarily would not take advantage of their professional counseling expertise in the areas of marriage preparation and enrichment.
B. Methodology:
1. Explanation of the development and evolution of The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military that reflects input from hundreds of military couples, counselors, chaplains and members of the clergy.
2. Presentation and interactive discussion of the most challenging issues and problems faced by married, engaged and dating military couples.
II. How the Marriage and Military Life inventory (produced separately and also contained in The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military) is different from and better for military couples than other pre-marital and marital inventories.
III. Cases where a professional may wish to make the Marriage and Military Life inventory available instead of The Survival Guide.
III. How The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military, also available in a computer program format, can be used to enhance the quality of a professional’s marriage preparation and enrichment counseling.
IV. Presentation and interactive discussion of the major challenges and problems that impact military relationships and contribute to military divorce, abuse and suicide rates.
V. Questions and discussion of issues of particular concern to workshop participants. This may also include any disagreements with advice provided in The Survival Guide. Input provided by participants in this session can help make future revised editions of The Survival Guide even more comprehensive and insightful.
The minimum length for this workshop for professionals, as well as the Marriage and Military Life workshop for couples, is three and a half hours including breaks. Commands can schedule one or both workshops. They can also can record the workshops and make them available for viewing by couples and professionals that were not able to be present on the condition that a copy be provided to the author.
Arrange for this workshop to be given at your command by contacting
Gene Thomas Gomulka, author of Marriage and Military Life and The Survival Guide for Marriage in the Military available at www.plaintec.net.
Toll-free: 877-618-7076 – Fax: 614-748-5221 gtgomulka@plaintec.net