MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Marine Corps Family Team Building hosted a Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program workshop at Yujo Hall here, March 15, 2013.
Whether married for two years, 20 years or marrying in the near future, the PREP courses provide couples ways to deal with marital problems.
“PREP is only on marriage and is open for married or soon-to-be married couples,” said Neda Amaya, MCFTB Lifestyle Insights, Networking, Knowledge, and Skills (L.I.N.K.S.) trainer. “The course instills tools to ensure not only a stable marriage, but a flourishing and striving marriage.”
The course lasted all day, covering relationship issues including stress, hidden issues and communication danger signs. With the help of Lt. Cmdr. Louis Lee, station chaplain, Amaya demonstrated various scenarios couples in relationships may deal with on a regular basis.
Along with scenarios, each couple received a workbook to implement new skills with their own relationship problems.
“Conflict resolution is one of the biggest takeaways from the course,” said Louise Tindel, PREP workshop participant. “How to talk out your problems and get around them is important.”
Communication, relaxation and forgiveness were other topics discussed during the workshop.
Amaya said Headquarters Marine Corps introduced the course when they noticed the PREP course saw a correlation in reduced divorce percentages.
“With a lot of servicemembers getting married at a young age, it provides a good foundation on the realities of marriage,” said Amaya. “We have chaplains and other resources, but it’s not often that there’s a class like this that’s offered for free and is in close proximity for everyone.”
Even if couples missed out on this particular workshop, MCFTB offers several other classes dealing with marriage and relationships, such as the pre-marital workshop and anyone interested in signing up for the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, call 253-3542.