Evidence Based Therapies
Prepare/Enrich
talk therapy
Prepare/Enrich is an assessment-based approach that allows each couple the opportunity to identify and address current or future concerns most relevant to strengthening their partnership.
Prepare/Enrich identifies beliefs, expectations, and needs within the relationship that can influence relationship satisfaction and connection.
SKILLS
Prepare/Enrich identifies blind-spots or skills deficits within the partnership that, when addressed, can enhance relationship satisfaction and connection.
MODALITIES
Prepare/Enrich is a structured 5-8 session assessment and skills acquisition program that is completed with the help of a couples therapist.
thoughts
What Prepare/Enrich is:
Prepare/Enrich is an assessment tool combined with a skills-based program designed to assist couples in anticipating and navigating the challenges associated with transitions for the partnership (e.g., engagement, marriage, co-habitation, starting a family). The program was designed to be a structured, time-limited (5-8 session) intervention aimed at identifying current or future relationship roadblocks and working collaboratively to prevent or repair relationship distress or disconnection.
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Learn more about the Prepare/Enrich program from the creators here.
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What Prepare/Enrich treats:
The first step of Prepare/Enrich is a couples assessment questionnaire that is completed by each partner individually. The assessment is designed to identify similarities and differences across ten areas that are known to be common sources of relationship distress, differing or contradictory expectations, or disconnection that when left untreated can lead to major stress on the partnership. The ten areas addressed are: communication & conflict resolution; financial management; partner styles and habits; leisure activities; sexual expectations; relationship satisfaction with relatives and friends; relationship roles within the partnership; spiritual beliefs; partnership expectations; and parenting expectations. Prepare/Enrich is considered a couples enrichment program and is designed to identify and address concerns in these areas before these concerns become relationship threatening.
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Prepare/Enrich is not appropriate for couples in intense partnership distress, processing a specific partnership wound or stressor (e.g., infidelity, commitment ambivalence, large ruptures in trust), or considering dissolving the partnership (e.g., separation or break-up). Couples in such circumstances would require full couples therapy and potentially a longer period of treatment.