Ten-week effort: Group aims to assist couples' relationships

When was the last time you discovered new ways of relating to and understanding your spouse? Are you satisfied with the level of connection and intimacy in your relationship?

The answers might be "just now" and "yes" for those who take part in a ten-week couples group at the diocesan Consultation Center in Albany.

Led by counselor Sandy Morrison, the group's focus will be on helping couples explore the possibilities of developing a caring, nurturing relationship with each other, and communicating more effectively. When they do so, she said, they will discover the rich spirituality of their relationship.

"Relationships are really microcosms [of who we are and how we live]," Ms. Morrison told The Evangelist. "In order for us to deal with the negativism so prevalent in the world today, we have to start somewhere, and the primary relationship seems like a good place to begin."

She explained that the interplay of relationships in a couples' group often is the catalyst that heals a relationship between two people. Through the group process, people learn to relate to others. They also learn that it is precisely what is different about their significant other that can strengthen a relationship.

She said that people often "marry their opposites"; later, when they begin to interact with each other, they discover these differences. She added that people can learn to appreciate the sacredness of self and others; in doing so, they begin to thrive and grow. Once that growth process occurs, the relationship is strengthened.

"Relationships and the people in them grow, change and mature over time," she said. "We wouldn't think of growing a garden without weeding, pruning and fertilizing. The way I work with people is by helping them connect with their inner healer on the path of knowledge and gentle truth."

Through her coaching, she added, couples can learn how to appreciate the individual differences they bring into their relationship. By doing that, they will find a way to connect with "the sacredness of themselves and the other, and develop or nurture mutual respect." When that occurs, she said, "magic can happen" within the relationship.

(For further information on the ten-week couples group, contact the Consultation Center at 783-4431. The group, which begins Feb. 6, will meet on Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m.)