GROW CLOSER AS COUPLES
Learn how to accompany one another, and experience
a growing closeness in your relationship.
Marian and Cassius have been married for 34 years and have 3 adult children and 5 grandchildren. My wife is Australian and I'm Indian; so we have a cross-cultural marriage. We met in India while working with a charity and lived there for 23 yrs, raising our children in that context. We needed help early in our marriage and were grateful to those who came alongside us and helped us work on the areas that were pulling us apart; so we recognise the value of companions who can support a spouse experiencing distress in their marriage relationship.
n 2012-13 we trained as Marriage Coaches with 'Great Relationships, USA' and have journeyed with many couples since then - in marriage preparation, marriage enrichment, and supporting couples struggling in their relationship. We have also run courses and workshops for groups of married couples, where they receive input and witness demos of exercises as a group, and then separate as couples to practice those exercises in their own relationship. Over the years, we've trained and worked with materials from several organisations involved in supporting marriage relationships and have gained valuable insights and tools from each of them: Great Relationships, Couples for Marriage Enrichment Australia, Alpha Pre-Marriage and Marriage Courses, and more recently Smart Loving. Cassius has also trained and works as a 'relationship coach' and 'spiritual director'.
A hallmark of our accompaniment is openness about our own marriage, which we have found helps client couples feel comfortable, and provides motivation for them to start being more open and honest with each other about their own thoughts, feelings and desires.
We love empowering couples (or individual spouses in the case of marriages in distress) with heart, hope and skills, so that you can better accompany one another, and experience a growing closeness in your marriage relationship. Each of the following resources has built-in activities for the individual spouse or couple to practice what they are learning right away. In other words you don't just learn theory, which you then have to try and figure out how to apply on your own.
We offer accompaniment to couples:
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preparing for marriage
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experiencing the need to work on growing closer in their marriage or
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experiencing distress in their marriage relationship.
You can learn more about what applies to your situation, below.
Prepare For Marriage
SmartLoving Engaged Online gives you the tools to make your marriage the best it can be.
It is a course designed for couples preparing to marry in the Catholic Church. However, any couples who are exploring the possibility of marriage, living together, already engaged, or are newly-married for less than two years, will benefit from it. While based on Catholic principles, it will be helpful for all couples - whether or not you have a faith background.
Since the content is all online, you can do it on your own as a couple, at your own pace and in your own time. Additionally, you can request free access to a Sponsor Couple to accompany you through each lesson of the course; the latter being recommended for additional support and guidance.
Accompaniment can be provided by Cassius and Marian, who have trained as a Sponsor Couple.
The design of the course is especially useful for couples:
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In a long-distance relationship or doing shift work, and needing flexibility
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Who need an approved Catholic course
The course consists of nine sessions of 1.5 hrs. Each session has 4-5 topics with video explanations, summary notes, individual reflection and couple activities. These can be done together as a couple once a week, or on your own for a shorter time (15-20 mins) each day. In the latter case, the couple can meet to share their answers to questions with each other once a week, or once in two weeks.
If done once a week, the course will take 3 months to complete.
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Learn more and enrol in the course at:
Work On Growing Closer In Your Marriage
Investing in your marriage and your relationship with each other is important.
The Marriage Kit created by SmartLoving is an online course for married couples wanting a lasting, passionate relationship.
A convenient and hassle free approach to relationship education for modern day couples, the online course allows you and your spouse to work through the program at your pace, and at a time that fits your busy schedules.
Features of the program include:
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A comprehensive curriculum with practical relationship and communication skills. Lesson topics include couple activities and a Date Night
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Quality videos featuring expert insights and relationship science presented by SmartLoving directors Dr Byron and Francine Pirola
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The ability to see your relationship progress through relationship surveys at the beginning and completion of the course
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Suitable for couples where one or both spouses are non-religious or from different religious background.
Register for the SmartLoving Marriage Kit here :
Help for spouses experiencing distress in your marriage
Many couples at various stages of their marriage face times where they feel stuck and are at a standstill in their relationship. The SmartLoving BreakThrough (SLBT) online course helps marriages in distress by working with individual spouses to optimise their interior peace so that they can approach their difficulties from a position of strength and love. It is designed to provide a circuit breaker for spouses in relationship gridlock and negative spirals of interaction and provides those in distressed marriages with insights, practical tools and renewed hope.
There are NO couple activities in this course. It is designed to support the individual spouse.
You can enrol as an individual participant and complete the online lessons on your own In addition, you can be accompanied by a Companion through each lesson of the course; the latter being recommended for additional support and guidance.
Accompaniment can be provided by Cassius, free of cost.
Learn more and enrol in the course at:
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Cassius has trained to be a Companion to a spouse doing the Breakthrough course with 'SmartLoving'. He would be happy to walk with a spouse, who is experiencing distress in their marriage and looking for support.
Interested in ongoing input and encouragement for your marriage relationship?
Cassius occasionally emails articles, videos and podcast episodes to a mailing list of couples,
who want to receive ongoing input,
so that they can keep working on growing closer in their marriage relationship.
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If you would like to receive these resources, please let him know here:
