Tuscaloosa’s One Place is hosting relationship classes on April 18 and student couples are encouraged to participate.
The classes are being offered through the FUSE program of the Alabama Healthy Marriage Relationship Initiative. The AHMERI offers many different classes to help improve relationship education throughout the state.
The classes will offer advice to couples that are striving to strengthen their relationship as well as serve as a study to evaluate which classes are the most effective on different people. Relationship and marriage education coordinator Ashley Cornelius-Hester said it is a state-wide study.
“We hope to find which class has the largest effect on helping couples become a healthy family,” Cornelius-Hester said. “We believe that a healthy family leads to a healthy community.”
Couples who register will be randomly assigned to one of three groups.The first group will be evaluated and taught how to enhance their relationship skills by focusing on core relationship and communication skills. The second will discuss topics about couples connecting mindfully and learn about individual and couple mindfulness-based reduction skills that will hopefully enhance a couples relationship skills. The third group will serve as a control group and will be asked to fill out scheduled surveys without attending a relationship education class.
Couples who participate will have the opportunity to earn up to $300 per person through the completion of evaluation surveys over the course of two years. The class will meet once a week for six weeks. The last class will be held on May 23.
The classes are held at Tuscaloosa’s One Place.
Classes are free to anyone willing to participate. Child care and meal plans are available at every class.
“We are trying to improve relationships throughout the state,” Cornelius-Hester said. “We have notice over multiple years of research that there has been an increase in healthy relationships in the state.”
For more information about registering for the study or participating visit the FUSE website at www.tuscaloosaoneplace.org/fuse.
