Secular and Christian Marriage Websites, Links and Resources

by Fr. Gary Coulter

This is a work in progress, so please e-mail your corrections and suggestions. Find the Recommended Secular Books on Marriage on a separate page - thanks to your suggestions, the marriage resources have grown too big for one page.

Contact Fr Gary Coulter Go to Fr. Coulter's homepage Good Counsel Retreat House


Visit my Recommended Catholic and Christian Marriage Websites and Links

Disclaimer: I am a Catholic Priest, and so can only recommend that you see my page of Catholic Websites and Catholic Books.
The following page is mostly non-Catholic, thus "secular" and Christian sites on marriage, marital strengthening and enrichment.


SmartMarriages.com - The Coalition for Marriage, Family, and Couples Education, which was the inspiration for many of my links. Family First - Nebraska's pro-family public policy think tank
Nebraska Family Alliance: Marriage
For World Marriage Day, visit Worldwide Marriage Encounter For Black Marriage Day, visit BlackMarriageDay.com

Directory of Secular Websites

Author's Sites
Preparing for Marriage or Engagement
Natural Family Planning
Marriage Enrichment
Troubled Marriages
Parenting & Fatherhood Resources
General Information
The Marriage Movement
It's not a site or book, but a TV show!
Marriage Uncensored

I recommend:

Directory of Catholic Websites

Author's Sites
Preparing for Marriage or Engagement
Natural Family Planning
Marriage Enrichment
Troubled Marriages
General Information

I recommend for Catholics:

Directory of Books

Featured Authors
John and Sheila Kippley
Kimberly and Scott Hahn
The Best of Catholic Books and Resources
Church Teaching on Marriage, Family and Theology of the Body
Enriching your Catholic Marriage
Novels about Marriage
Dating from a Catholic Perspective
Catholic Books on Parenting
Catholic Church Teaching (Popes of the 20th Century)
Other Catholic Sources
Pauline Books and Media
Ligouri Publications
Mary Beth Bonacci
Dr. Janet Smith
EWTN
Miscellaneous Sources
Catholic Wedding Planners

Websites of Featured Secular Authors


Preparing for Marriage:

FOCCUS/REFOCCUS Premarital & Marital Inventories
FoccusInc.com

PREPARE/ENRICH by Life Innovations, Inc.
Prepare-Enrich.com

Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP)
PrepInc.com and Christian PREP

Pairs.com
A 27-year-old program, "Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills," that teaches attitudes and behaviors for healthy relationships (for engaged or married couples).

The RELATE Institute - Relate-Institute.org
Complete one of the survey questionnaires, for married couples, or those preparing for marriage or remarriage, which then gives a detailed report outlining both parties' responses and areas of strength and weakness for discusion.

Couple Communication
CoupleCommunication.com
"Couple Communication" Programs for both married and engaged couples to produce interpersonal communication and conflict resolution. Developed by Drs. Phyllis and Sherod Miller, married over 40 years, with backgrounds in education and training plus marriage and family enrichment and therapy. Over 600,000 couples have participated in Couple Communication since its beginning at the University of Minnesota Family Study Center.

"Partners In Life" program for dating and engaged couples: PartnersInLife.org
Part of the Relationship Coaching Institute

The Cana Institute: CanaInstitute.org
Caring for the Soul of Marriage and Family

Two Churches, One Marriage
* This is a free, web-based program for interchurch couples, with strategies for dealing with the challenges they may encounter. Provides an eight-unit program similar to the REFOCCUS (written for both engaged and married couples).

Dove Tail Institute An organization offering resources for interfaith couples, from planning interfaith weddings to dealing with issues in their interfaith marriages, family, and extended families.

First Things First
Marriage and Family Resource Center with statistics, research and reasons to avoid cohabitation, www.firstthings.org.
E.g. The risk of divorce after living together is 50% higher than after not living together. In other words, those who live together before marriage are almost twice as likely to divorce than those who did not live together. (Bumpass & Sweet 1995; Hall & Zhao 1995; Bracher, Stantow, Morgan & Russell 1993; DeMaris & Rao 1992 and Glen 1990)


Preparing for Engagement

Lovegevity.com Invaluable advice and information on weddings and marriage, this site takes a step further by offering resources for relationship education to the busy bride- and groom-to-be. Includes dating, engagement, wedding planning, marriage, pregnancy, parenting and more.

How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk - John Van Epp, PhD
NoJerks.com

Reborn Virgin: RebornVirgin.com
A secular site which promotes sexual abstinence before marriage.

Abstinence Clearinghouse

XXXChurch.com
A Christian site dedicated to fighting pornography, includes free accountability software.


Natural Family Planning:

Couple to Couple League - CCLI.org
The source for information on Natural Family Planning (Sympto-Thermal Method). Read how it really does take two to plan a family! Find an NFP class in your area. They also have a good magazine "Family Foundations"
CCLOmaha.org has CCL class schedule for Omaha, NE.

Don't forget to check out the resources on NFP by John & Sheila Kippley

NFP Outreach: Facts About Natural Family Planning - NfpOutreach.org
NFP Outreach has accurate, practical, up-to-date facts about the various Natural Family Planning methods. A handy search tool also allows you to find an NFP teacher or resources in your area. Includes a library of documents.

The American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals - AAFCP.org
Formerly the American Academy of Natural Family Planning, a professional organization that provides certification / accreditation for Creighton Model FertilityCare NFP, and promotes research in natural family planning.

The Billings Ovulation Method - Drs. John and Evelyn Billings
boma-usa.org
woomb.org - Australia
The Ovulation Method: Natural Family Planning - John J. Billings

Pope Paul VI Institute - PopePaulVI.com

Creighton Model Natural Family Planning - CreightonModel.com

Family of the Americas
FamilyPlanning.net
Information on the ovulation method of Natural Family Planning.


Marriage Enrichment:

Smart Marriages - SmartMarriages.com
Numerous articles and resources, a clearinghouse for marriage strengthening programs. My favorite: Teach right out of the box

The Gottman Institute - a research-based approach to relationships, be sure to check out their Card Decks app

First Years and Forever E-Newsletter for Newly Married Couples

Marriage Builders - MarriageBuilders.com
Dr. Willard Harley provides articles, resources, mp3s and more to help all stages of marriage and marital difficulties.

Family Builders Ministries - FamilyBuilders.net
Dedicated to building stronger Christian marriages and families, it also has resources for churches and parishes (not Catholic). Includes 30 Days to a Healthy Marriage - Free: you and your spouse can receive a tip a day by email for 30 days!

The Marriage Garden
A FREE 6-lesson course on "cultivating" a good marriage

Operation US has numerous resources for all ages: dating and engaged, married, expecting, and couples under stress.

Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment (ACME) - BetterMarriages.org

Relationship Coaching Network - RelationshipCoachingInstitute.com
* A large number of excellent articles and recordings: Conscious Relationship Resources

Center of Relationship Enhancement (CORE) - RelationshipEnhancement.com

Marriage.com - has many articles, resources, blogs and a Therapist Directory

Marriage Education Institute - MarriageEducation.org
Strengthening relationships through online learning - offers online classes for couples to learn practical skills to nurture their marriage relationship.

Marriage Transformation Project - MarriageTransformation.com offers a list of Recommended books

National Institute of Relationship Enhancement - NIRE.org

World Class Marriage - WorldClassMarriage.com

Utah Marriage Commission - StrongMarriage.org Offers a variety of FREE online internet courses, e.g. Saying "I Do": Consider the Possibilities; and 'Marriage Moments' on becoming parents.

Secrets of Married Men - SecretsOfMarriedMen.com
Dr. Scott Haltzman runs an Internet community for married men to share their experiences and wisdom about marriage.

The National Healthy Marriage Institutite - HealthyMarriage.org
Numerous materials for all: engaged, newly-married, long distance relationships, etc. Also has supports for other marriage education groups. Great Free pamphlets! (including Spanish versions)

National Healthy Marriage Resource Center - TwoOfUs.org
A variety of resources for both the engaged and married, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

National Extension Relationship and Marriage Education Network - NERMEN.org
The Extension system provides healthy relationship and marriage education efforts and resources, including Free Educational Materials

Top Marriage Blogs

Foundation for a Great Marriage Blog
- a nice blog for Stronger Marriages courtesy of ThinkMarriage.org

TheMarryBlogger.com - Encouraging Great Marriages

TheMarriageCounselingblog.com - discussion on Marriage, Families, and Counseling

passion101.com - Bring the Passion Back with Dr. Adam Sheck

WhisperedBetweenWomen.tumblr.com a.k.a. the secrets of married women by the enigmatic Mrs. Levine

LateBloomerBride.com Suzanne Henry writes about how marrying at the age of 42 changed her life

ProjectHappilyEverAfter.com - Alisa Bowman - marriage expert and freelance writer - provides Free Marriage Help and Advice

OneExtraordinaryMarriage.com - ONE by Tony & Alisa DiLorenzo about married life and how faith informs their marriage + includes a podcast

Marriage Radio - weekly radio progam to help couples enrich their lives together from Marriage Helper 911


Troubled Marriages:

Retrouvaille
Retrouvaille.org
home.vicnet.net.au/~retro/home.htm
Means "rediscovery" - a program to help couples heal and renew their marriage relationship that has drifted apart or is facing great challenges.

DivorceBusting.com
More information about the highly recommended books of Michele Weiner-Davis (above), and her marriage skill-building "Keeping Love Alive" workshops. Also see twitter.com/divorcebusting and facebook.com/divorcebusting

Beyond Affairs Network (BAN) - DearPeggy.com
BAN is a free support group for people who are dealing with the devastating emotional impact of a spouse's affair. It is for women and men, whether still married or divorced, seeking support in recovering from this experience.
BAN is based on The Monogamy Myth: A Personal Handbook for Recovering from Affairs by Peggy Vaughan.

PassionateLife.ca
Brian and Anne Bercht, also include the opposite side of BAN, i.e. support for those who have had an affair. Those who are sorry and want to rebuild their marriages also need support.
Anne is author of My Husband's Affair Became the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me

Choosing Wisely - Before You Divorce
BeforeYouDivorce.org
Sponsored by DivorceCare.org (Note: nondenominational Christian - thus not Catholic in its views of the possibility of remarriage after divorce.)

The Institute for Marital Healing - www.MaritalHealing.com

Sites to help find competent Marriage Friendly marital counseling:
CatholicTherapists.com, ExceptionalMarriages.com, and MarriageFriendlyTherapists.com
Skilled therapists that support marriage - a service both for couples and for those that make referrals. It also will ask clients for feedback about their marital therapy experiences.

AAMFT.org - American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
TherapistLocator.net - Licensed marriage therapists by zip code.

TherapyHelp.com
Dr. Susan Heitler offers various workshops, resources, books and tapes, include free articles; her focus is primarily on conflict management.

TheThirdOption.com - building a better marriage.
A on-going group program to help build better marriages. A manual and video series available for non-profit church/community groups. Popular for its easy to implement, support group format; there are fourteen mini-workshops to teach relationship skills to couples.

MarriageHelper.com - home of the Marriage Helper 911 Workshop
A Christian marriage ministry that includes many resources and worshops for marriages in crisis who are considering divorce (with a 77% success rate!), plus sponsors a weekly Marriage Radio progam.


Parenting & Fatherhood Resources:

Resources for Catholic and Christian Men

Head of the Family - Clayton C. Barbeau
Scriptural based guide to help men become better husbands and fathers, with practical experience and tips.

NationofWimps.com
Explores the growing evidence that childrearing in America has taken a bewildering turn, with increased mental health problems, because parental invasiveness and overinvolvement is crippling children psychologically.

A Parent's Guide to Preventing Homosexuality - Dr. Joseph Nicolosi
Every dad should read this book.


General Information:

Note: These are Christian sites which may not always support a Catholic view on

Family.org - Focus on the Family with Dr. James Dobson
Love Must Be Tough - Dr. James Dobson
A book for families in crisis, especially when problems are caused by someone's addiction. This book can go far to free you from the torment of false guilt for other's mistakes while bringing about the greatest possibility of recovery, placing responsibility back on the person who can make decisions that will make a difference.

TheAlexanderHouse.org
A non-profit organization offering free online resources aimed at educating others about God's plan for marriage.

A page of Post Abortion Resources

The Relationship Resource Group
Publishes and provides links to resources to help Christian individuals, marriages, and families.

Human Family Foundation
Organization dedicated to promoting the dignity of the human family as the basic cell of society and the fundamental model of society. Also publishes an e-zine.

FamilyResearchInst.org
Secular educational and research organization working for the traditional definition of marriage, this site brings out the many problems of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Marriage & Family page at Kyria (Christianity Today)
Many articles and resource for the (non-Catholic) christian marriage. Like this one Stop, Drop and Kiss

Friends of the Family Ministries
Non-denominational marriage and family resource center with many categorized book lists and internet links.


The Marriage Movement

The National Marriage Project, U.Va.
Nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the institution of marriage by providing research and analysis. Links to many organizations and resources. Unfortunately some links are to sites that support condoms and contraceptives. But much of their research is helpful:
Ten Important Research Findings on Marriage and Choosing a Marriage Partner - Helpful Facts for Young Adults
State of Our Unions 2009 - Money and Marriage
Should We Live Together? What Young Adults Need to Know about Cohabitation before Marriage 2nd ed.
The Top Ten Myths of Marriage and Divorce
Ten Things Teens Should Know About Marriage

Ten Social Science Arguments against Same Sex Marriage

ACF Healthy Marriage Initiative - part of Administration for Children and Families (government site)

The Ruth Institute - www.ruthinstitute.org - Making marriage cool - One Man + One Woman for Life
Including the Reel Love Challenge - videos from young adults: Is lifelong love possible? Is it worth the effort?
And LoveIsHere.com - fostering healthy, lasting marriages

Institute for American Values - AmericanValues.org
Does Divorce Make People Happy?

The Heritage Foundation - Heritage.org
A research and educational institute - a think tank - promoting conservative public policies.
Marriage: America's Greatest Weapon Against Child Poverty
The Overwhelming Evidence that Marriage Education Works
The Effects of Divorce On America
Heritage Foundation's familyfacts.org - catalogs social science findings on the family.
Top Ten Findings: Cohabitation vs. Marriage
Top Ten Findings: The Impact of Marriage on Economic Well-Being
FamilyScholars.org - Center for Marriage and Families
Why Marriage Matters: 26 Conclusions from the Social Sciences

Americans for Divorce Reform - DivorceReform.org
Supporting cultural and legislative efforts to reduce divorce through modification of no-fault divorce laws, waiting periods, mandatory counseling, and other means. More info on statistics and waiting periods.

Family First - familyfirst.org
Nebraska's pro-family public policy think tank: Marriage Matters in Nebraska Project


This is a page of secular marriage resources, go here for Catholic marriage websites and links.
Contact Fr Gary Coulter Go to Fr. Coulter's homepage Good Counsel Retreat House
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