I work to increase psychological well-being in individuals, marriages, families, and workforces by providing trainings in relationship skills. But skills must be practiced. Increasing relationship skills is a life long pursuit. Children learn from behavior that is modeled in the home, church, and community. If these adults did not have relationship skills, they could not model them to the children. Unless those children and adults learned [and practiced] relationship skills from an outside source, the children are set to raise their children with the same lack of skills. Where skills are deficient, it is important to begin as early as possible in the life of an individual, marriage, family, or organization to change ways of dealing with each other.
Consider this: About 54 percent of all marriages end in divorce and 20 percent of those divorces occur within the first two years. Many divorces occur partly because women and men are not prepared for marriage. Frequently, couples spend more time preparing for the wedding ceremony then for their marriage relationship.
This office provides training in relationship skills through several excellent programs, listed below. Each program has its own strength, and they can be interwoven as need arises. They are an investment in the future of a business, marriage, or better social relationships.
See the disclaimer below.
Life Innovations:
Dr. David H. Olson and colleagues at the University of Minnesota have researched the skills that set apart successfully married couples from other marriages. He has identified five types of marriages that range from vitalized [most successful], to harmonious, traditional, conflicted, and devitalized. Dr. Olson, through Life Innovations, created inventories [Prepare & Enrich] to assess the amount of agreement couples have on the major areas creating successful marriages. He then developed programs to help strengthen marriages in these areas. All the trainings are based on the same strengthening principals, but differ somewhat by whether individuals are teens and single adults, engaged, married, or mature couples over age fifty facing transitions. Each group has their own program. His research has shown that couples have moved from a more conflicted type to a more successful type by participating in his relationship skill training.
The trainings address couple relationship strengths and growth areas. They also discuss communication; assertiveness; active listening; conflict resolution; couple relationships compared to family of origin relationships; personality issues; financial management; spiritual beliefs; children and parenting; family and friends; realistic expectations; leisure activities; developing a budget; and setting personal and couple goals. www.lifeinnovations.com
www.prepare-enrich.com 1-800-331-1661
Interpersonal Communication Programs:
Dr. Sherod Miller researched the component parts of communication, and developed a format using a diagrammed card and/or a mat to help business team members, couples, and individuals,to remember to cover the component parts of effective conversation. www.couplecommunication.com 1-800-328-5099
CREST: Continuous Relationship Education & Skills Training
Rev. Dr. Edward Santana-Grace noticed that anger and anxiety prevented effective relationships. He researched both and developed programs for businesses, schools, families, and individuals to get control of their emotions so they could learn how to interact appropriately. His work is referred to in the Christians Experiencing Narcissism Lecture NPD.1 . http://home.earthlink.net/~skills4u/gettingtoknowgod/
[Disclaimer: Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. has been trained in the basic of REST-C2 by its founder, Rev. Edward Santana-Grace, PHD, and has full permission to coach clients in her personal practice and those under her direct care. Her practice is not affiliated with any entity, corporation, or aspect of REST-C2. In referencing REST-C2 resources for presentation to others, REST-C2 reminds all persons that its programs are constantly open to new input from the sciences and from its own researach and practices. Hence REST-C2 does not and cannot fully endorse the materials used by Mardee Alff, Psy.D. nor other ministry brochures used by Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. Furthermore, as REST-C2 is an educational program, REST-C2 maintains that each person must be their own rigorous judge of the outcomes in order to validate the truthfulness (or lack thereof) of any information that that person receives from REST-C2. Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. does not endorse the materials used by REST-C2, or other references.
Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. has been trained in the 15-hour Couple Communication I & II Core Communication Instructor Training Workshop of Interpersonal Communications Programs, Inc. Her practice is not affiliated with any entity, corporation, or aspect of Interpersonal Communication Programs, Inc. Interpersonal Communcation Programs, Inc. does not endorse the materials used by Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. nor other references used by Mardee Alff, Psy.D. In the same way, Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. does not endorse the materials used by Interpersonal Communications, or other references.
Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. has completed the Life Innovations, Inc., Prepare/Enrich Initial Training One-Day Seminar: a 6 hour professional educational seminar; and The Advanced Course. Her practiace is not affiliated with any entity, corporation or aspect of Life Innovations, Inc. Life Innovations, Inc., does not endorse the materials used by Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. nor other references used by Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. In the same way, Dr. Mardee Alff, Psy.D. does not endorse the materials used by Life Innovations, or other references.]
