​"Empowering individuals & strengthening families"
Family Bridges.
The "Family Bridges" program at M & A is designed to promote thriving communities by delivering services to strengthen family relationships. This is accomplished by maintaining and embracing each community's cultural and spiritual values. We are committed to transforming communities by empowering families.
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The "Family Bridges" program provides couples an opportunity to learn healthy relationship skills that anyone and everyone can benefit from.
Married couples with low income and hve never attended any M & A workshop can enroll in the "Family Bridges" program at no cost.

Follow the link below for more information about Family Bridges Programs in the Chicagoland Area
The Couple: The Strongest Link
Developed by Family Wellness Associates, who have worked with culturally diverse and low income communities for over 38 years, "The Couple: The Strongest Link" is an engaging and hands-on approach beginning with low risk exercises using immediate support, examples and practice.
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The program incorporates role-plays where situations are scripted around different topics such as:
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Values
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Level of need for physical intimacy
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Money issues
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Dealing with critiism
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Having/raising children
The core sessions will cover topics such as:
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Communication skills
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Problem solving
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Knowing personal goals
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Values as well as couple goals
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Money management
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Intimacy
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How to pay back your community with the skill learned.
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This group is offered in three sessions of four hours in selected days.
Marriage 911 (Hold Me Tight & Prepare/Enrich)
This program presents a streamlined version of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy "Hold Me Tight" in addition to the "PREPARE/ENRICH" couples program.
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Couples will take an inventory to learn about areas of growth and strengths in their relationships, Couples will meet with a certified facilitator during indivudals one sessions to review the results of the inventory. They will also be coached with other couples into conversations that will capture the defining moments of their relationship which will guide them into meaningful conversations for a life time
Marriage 911 (Hold Me Tight & Prepare/Enrich)
This program presents a streamlined version of Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy "Hold Me Tight" in addition to the "PREPARE/ENRICH" couples program.
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Couples will take an inventory to learn about areas of growth and strengths in their relationships, Couples will meet with a certified facilitator during indivudals first sessions to review the results of the inventory. They will also be coached with other couples to learn how to capture the defining moments of their relationship in order to guide them into meaningful conversations for a life time.
Hold Me Tight
This program is for couples interested in developing an enriching and satisfying relationship for a "Lifetime of Love". The curriculum is based on Dr. Sue Johnson's work on Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy.
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It is presented as a 6 hour "hands-on" seminar. The activities are designed to foster couples' awareness, understanding of how each others thoughts, feelings and behaviors influence their partner, and developing healthier interaction styles.

PREPARE/ENRICH
This program is designed to be provided in four individual session with the couple.
PREPARE/ENRICH will help you:
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Identify strength and growth areas
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Explore personality traits
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Strengthen communication skills
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Resolve conflicts and reduce stress
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Compare family backgrounds
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Comfortably discuss financial issues
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Establish personal, couple, and family goals
Mentoring
This program is designed for couples who successfully completed "The Couple: The Strongest Link", and are interested in becoming mentors for other at-risk couples in their communities.
Participants will receive the MCFB Marriage Champions mentoring toolkit. Couples will also receive up to 12 hours of group supervision meetings scheduled quarterly through the year, as well as one-on-one consultation and coaching .
163 North Greenleaf - Suite 2 - Gurnee, Illinois 60031
Phone: 1-847-360-8860 - Fax: 1-847-360-8864