Fatherhood Channel

Four years after a suicide bombing that claimed the life of a 16-year-old Florida youngster, PAIRS Foundation and the Daniel Cantor Wultz Foundation teamed up with iTunes to release a free iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad application to promote tolerance by helping young people strengthen families, relationships, schools, and communities.

A study by the nonprofit PAIRS Foundation found statistically significant, lasting improvements in marital satisfaction for men and women who completed a nine-hour relationship skills training program. The organization says that expanding relationship skills training in communities nationwide offers the potential for creating tens of thousands of jobs while reducing billions in taxpayer expenses.

Nearly two thirds of couples in committed relationships regularly argue with each other and more than a quarter quarrel more often than not. Researchers followed-up with hundreds of couples six months after they completed a nine-hour PAIRS Essentials class designed to improve communication, emotional understanding, and conflict resolution. Results of the follow-up study indicated a sharp decline in the frequency of disagreements with significant benefits for improving marriages, strengthening families and helping children succeed.

Sexual satisfaction improved for 85 percent of women participating in the nine-hour PAIRS Essentials relationship skills curriculum, according to a six-month follow-up study. The educational program included exercises to improve communication, emotional understanding and expression, and constructive conflict resolution skills.

PAIRS DTR, a free iPhone app available today from iTunes, helps couples, families, parents, and friends strengthen relationships. Developed by the nonprofit PAIRS Foundation, a leader in relationship skills training, PAIRS DTR for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad guides users through a practical, five-step communication exercise that can be posted on Facebook or shared by e-mail.

Their eyes still sparkle with the innocence of youth; their eager smiles and endearing manners invite understanding and empathy. For many of these children, behind their eyes, smiles and natural charm are traumatic images, memories, and anxieties that rob them daily of the carefree joys of childhood. These children do not live in Haiti or anywhere else that is the focus of global campaigns for urgent public support, rescue and contribution. They live in Miami-Dade’s Liberty City, minutes from Florida’s southern capitals of relative wealth, abundance, and extravagance. Over the past month, a team of instructors and research staff from PAIRS Foundation had the privilege of working with the fourth and fifth graders of Liberty City Elementary School, sharing practical skills and strategies for better understanding themselves and others, deepening empathy, expressing emotions, resolving differences and conflicts, and caring for the relationships they cherish.

Escape to a remarkable 23-acre retreat at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Conference Center and Spa in Weston, Florida (minutes from Fort Lauderdale airport) for four days of professional training on the best practice in marriage enrichment, March 10-13, 2010. Immerse yourself in powerful, proven, experiential curricula that deliver lasting benefits for participants in marriage, fatherhood and family education programs.

T. Williard Fair, President of the Urban League of Greater Miami and Chairman of the Florida Department of Education, encourages efforts to strengthen marriages and families as the foundation for revitalizing schools, communities, and improving the well-being of children during a visit to a PAIRS relationship skills class in Liberty City.

Seven in ten parents of school-age children responding to a recent survey said they’ve considered separation or divorce. Six months after participating in a nine hour class to improve communication, emotional understanding, empathy and conflict resolution skills, the percentage who said they never consider separation or divorce doubled.

A sour economy, soaring healthcare costs, and difficult job market is leading increasing numbers of men to marriage education classes for tips and tools to bring greater harmony to their families, improve relationships with spouses and children, and strengthen their ability to weather financial challenges.

While there is no one size fits all approach to reducing teen pregnancy, educational programs that focus on helping youngsters better express themselves through conversations with trusted confidants offer much promise. That’s especially so when confidants are parents and other significant adults who are able to model healthy relationship building skills.

Research demonstrates that PAIRS relationship skills training, a behavioral/cognitive educational approach developed, evaluated, and refined over a quarter century, has the potential to reverse the trend of marital and family breakdown and significantly contribute to strengthening families and improving outcomes for children.

Politicians are not the only ones calling it quits this month. In divorce filings nationwide, an estimated 100,000 American couples will throw in the towel on their marriages in January. While those decisions will not receive the attention of this week’s political announcements, for their children especially, the lifelong impact will be far more significant.

Six month follow-up results from 996 recent participants in PAIRS brief (9-12 hours) relationship skills training classes validate significant benefits and the highest levels of client satisfaction. This report, by PAIRS Foundation’s Research Director Amanda Falciglia, offers meaningful evidence of the lasting impact of relationship skills classes for marriages and families.

Understanding the importance of bonding — the unique combination of emotional openness and physical closeness with another human being — has led to a paradigm shift that has powerfully influenced our understanding of human development and behavior. The results have included significant changes in birthing practices, physical and mental health treatments, recovery and wellness programs, care for seniors, parenting, fatherhood and marriage education, immigrant absorption, and even rehabilitation and re-entry of convicts. In fact, the more we understand about the human need for bonding and the symptoms of deprivation, the more we’re discovering about its connection to many of society’s most urgent challenges.

Uno de los aspectos importantes del estudio incluye la medición de los elementos clave de satisfacción en la relación antes de comenzar la clase PAIRS y seis meses más tarde. Las evaluaciones de seguimiento de 996 participantes recientes validan beneficios significativos en las relaciones de pareja y muestran los niveles más altos de satisfacción del cliente.

A recent study by the nonprofit PAIRS Foundation shows that helping teenagers improve communication skills, emotional understanding, and healthy conflict resolution is key to reducing teen pregnancies.

Relationship skills training founded on emotional literacy, empathy and bonding has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of life for millions of American couples, families, and children. PAIRS Foundation experience with diverse populations — from prisoner re-entry to individuals recovering from addictions, the formerly homeless, families struggling to overcome poverty, new immigrants, expectant parents, adoptive families, couples impacted by a spouse’s combat deployment, couples raising special needs children, couples considering separation or divorce, and others in all stages of relationship consistently demonstrates a lasting, positive impact of evidence-based relationship skills education.

Four in five couples on the brink of divorce achieve significant, lasting improvements from participation in 9 – 12 hours of relationship skills training, according to research published today by the non-profit PAIRS Foundation. Seth Eisenberg, PAIRS President and CEO, says the study has important implications for the public and policy makers. “We now know [...]

The nonprofit PAIRS Foundation will offer a series of free 90-minute online classes to help returning combat veterans and family members impacted by PTSD. “Early intervention through effective education and skills training is critical for combat veterans and family members,” said Seth Eisenberg, President and CEO of PAIRS Foundation.