Complete Healthy Marriage Course

What you will be able to do

• take an honest snapshot of your relationship and choose where to focus first.
• notice and respond to everyday bids for connection and build small rituals that protect time together.
• give specific, sincere appreciation and replace criticism and contempt with respectful complaints.
• listen to understand, raise issues with a gentle start and hold a short weekly check-in.
• tell solvable problems from ongoing differences, take a calming break and repair after an argument using a shared conflict plan.
• talk about money, chores and the mental load as a team, and agree fairer arrangements.
• set shared goals and healthy habits as a couple, and turn the course into a year-long routine.
• recognise the signs of domestic and family violence and know where to find confidential help and relationship counselling.

1. 1What makes a marriage healthy

   Explore what healthy, lasting relationships tend to have in common, take an honest snapshot of your own, and decide how you will use this course.

   • What healthy couples tend to do differently
   • Your relationship health check
   • Using this course alone or together

   Relationship health check

2. 2Friendship and everyday connection

   Strengthen the friendship at the heart of your marriage by noticing everyday bids for attention, staying curious about each other and building small rituals of connection.

   • Turning towards each other in small moments
   • Staying curious about each other
   • Rituals of connection

   Appreciation trackerConnection question cardsShared goals planner

3. 3Appreciation, kindness and respect

   Learn why appreciation and respect protect a marriage, how criticism and contempt erode it, and how to build a daily habit of saying what you value.

   • Why appreciation protects a marriage
   • Saying thank you in ways that land

   Appreciation trackerConnection question cards

4. 4Communication that works

   Practise listening to understand, saying what you need without blame, and holding a short weekly check-in that keeps small issues from growing.

   • Listening to understand
   • Saying what you need without blame
   • The weekly check-in

   Weekly check-in templateAppreciation tracker

5. 5Handling conflict well

   Understand the difference between problems you can solve and differences you live with, learn to calm down when arguments overheat, and agree a conflict plan with repair built in.

   • Solvable problems and ongoing differences
   • When arguments overheat: calming down
   • Repair and your conflict plan

   Our conflict planWeekly check-in template

6. 6Money, home and the mental load

   Talk about money as a team, share housework and the invisible mental load more fairly, and protect your relationship from work and life stress.

   • Money as a team
   • Sharing chores and the mental load fairly
   • Work, stress and protecting time together

   Shared goals plannerWeekly check-in template

7. 7Affection, intimacy and staying close

   Talk about affection and intimacy openly, understand that desire differs and changes over time, and keep closeness alive through life's changes.

   • Affection, desire and talking about intimacy
   • Keeping intimacy alive through life's changes

   Connection question cardsAppreciation tracker

8. 8Families, children and outside pressures

   Act as a team with your wider families, parent together when you disagree, and protect trust from phones, friendships and other outside pressures.

   • Two families, one team
   • Parenting as a team
   • Phones, friendships and protecting trust

   Shared goals plannerOrdinary conflict or something more? A private checkWeekly check-in template

9. 9Shared goals, healthy habits and your future

   Explore your shared values and dreams, build healthy habits as a couple, and turn what you have learned into a marriage plan for the year ahead.

   • Values, dreams and shared goals
   • Healthy habits as a couple
   • Your marriage plan for the year ahead

   Shared goals plannerRelationship health checkAppreciation tracker

10. 10Getting extra help and staying safe

    Know when and where to get relationship counselling or mental health support, recognise the difference between conflict and domestic and family violence, and find confidential help.

    • Relationship counselling and other support
    • Conflict or abuse? Knowing the difference
    • Big life events, separation and looking after yourself

    Ordinary conflict or something more? A private checkRelationship health check

• CheckerRelationship health checkTake an honest snapshot of your marriage across friendship, communication, conflict, teamwork, intimacy and shared future, so you know your strengths and where to start.
• TemplateWeekly check-in templateGuide a calm 20 to 30-minute weekly conversation that covers appreciation, the week ahead, any issues and one thing to look forward to.
• TemplateOur conflict planAgree in a calm moment how you will both handle disagreements: how to raise issues, when to take a break, how to calm down and how to repair afterwards.
• TrackerAppreciation trackerBuild a daily habit of noticing and saying what you appreciate about your partner, and see how small moments of connection add up over four weeks.
• PlannerShared goals plannerTurn your shared values and dreams into a few concrete goals across the main areas of married life, each with a first small step and a date to check in.
• CardsConnection question cardsPrint or open these cards to start conversations that go beyond the to-do list and help you keep learning about each other.
• CheckerOrdinary conflict or something more? A private checkAll couples disagree, but some behaviours are signs of domestic and family violence. This private check helps you notice warning signs and points you to confidential help.