Marriage Encounter: Tips for Improving Your Marriage Through Communication

My husband and I were married for 3 years when we decided to attend a Marriage Encounter weekend through the Catholic Church. We didn't need marriage counseling, and Marriage Encounter isn't intended to serve this purpose anyway. Instead, we'd had a busy past year. He'd changed jobs, we'd had a baby, I'd quit my job to stay at home, I was pregnant again, and we were preparing to make a major move overseas. We decided that we wanted to focus on our marriage and each other and heard about Marriage Encounter through our local parish. Though we aren't incredibly religious, the idea of this weekend seemed to strike a chord with us. We decided to sign up. Not only was Marriage Encounter worth our time, but we highly recommend it to all married couples as a way of improving their communication and increasing their intimacy.

What is Marriage Encounter?
Marriage Encounter is a weekend-long opportunity for you and your spouse to be alone together. I was worried that we'd be expected to speak in a group about our relationship, but this wasn't the case. Instead, Marriage Encounter focuses on providing couples with discussion tools and skills that they can use privately. Three couples and one priest were there to share and demonstrate, and then we were given the opportunity to practice these new discussion skills. Called dialogue, this means of communicating with your spouse is designed to enhance your communication and intimacy as a couple. I quickly realized that this weekend wasn't meant for couples who were in trouble, but for couples who were in love and had a deep desire to grow in their love for one another and with God. Though a Catholic priest and three Catholic couples handle the presentations, you do not need to be Catholic to attend a Marriage Encounter weekend.