Emotion-Focused Couples' Communication Program: An Innovative Approach Towards Enhancing Couples' Communication and Improving Marital Satisfaction

There is no perfect marriage. In all relationships, there will be stages of fluctuations. Intimacy and understanding may not always remain at a high level. Couples may sometimes feel that they are living with strangers, their passion ebbing out like a receding tide, and they may feel trapped in the same old arguments over finance or kids. And it is normal too. Life may seem to go in a monotonously boring way with all its daily stresses propelling emotional distance between the partners and ushering in boredom in the bedroom. However, the problem arises when partners neglect or fail to address these fluctuations in a constructive and positive manner. This will lead them to coldness and distance, conflicts of interests, disagreements in decisions, aggressiveness and violence in communication, even to the point of physical aggression, and ultimately, to the degeneration and dissolution of marriage and family. EFCCP proposes a novel style of communication based on Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg and Emotionally Focused Therapy by Johnson. The program will teach the couples how to engage in a compassionate communication and how to relate to their own feelings and needs as well as to that of their partners in a constructive manner, leading to reconnection and healing.