What Is Marriage Enrichment?

Marriage enrichment is a term that was coined by David and Vera Mace that encapsulates the objectives of promoting mutual commitment to growth by a couple in a marriage. It involves agreeing to an approach for communicating and listening to each other, using conflict as the basis for creative change rather than negative feelings, sharing feelings openly and developing and maintaining a desire for intimacy in the marital relationship.

This technique works best when a couple places marriage at the apex of what they regard as important in their lives and intentionally take steps to achieve growth in their marital relationship. Often this is done with a group of other couples that have similarly committed to these principles where they can practice interactive skills with each other in a supportive environment. The longer couples commit to the process the better the results.