WHO
WE ARE
COURSES
TIPS & HELP
ARTICLES
RESEARCH
NEWSLETTER
MEDIA
RESOURCES
COUPLES
EVALUATION
CONTRIBUTE
CONTACT
HOME
FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CALL
0117 924 1480
OR EMAIL
INFO@BCFT.CO.UK
|
Please do apply for any of our new parenting and relationship courses while we are closed during the summer holidays from late July - early September. First come, first served. There are plenty of spaces and should be no problem. We'll confirm with you as soon as we restart in the autumn.
Read a good article about ADAPT here in the Bristol Evening Post
Our course for dating, engaged or newlywed couples Read another good article about INSIGHT here in The Times magazine
CONNECT Read about mentoring in an article in My Weekly magazine. Harry Benson's new book Mentoring Marriages explains the process much more fully
LISTENING LOVING LAUGHING - relationship skills for all Click here to apply online. Listening Loving Laughing (LLL) was developed by BCFT for anyone who wants to have a better relationship.. The course is especially aimed at young mums and dads starting a family. However all couples at any stage of life will find the course helpful. Young mums and dads could find the course makes a dramatic difference. The highest concentration of family breakdown at any stage of life is found especially amongst unmarried mums and dads in the early years of parenthood. LLL is based as much as possible on research into what makes relationships work. The key idea is to become aware of the ways we hurt one another automatically without even thinking about it. Then we can apply ways to reduce these destructive habits and build up some good habits.
BCFT runs regular monthly courses. However LLL can also be run easily by small group leaders operating independently. A leaders guide, powerpoint presentation and course handbook make the course very easy to run and very practical to learn. No professional expertise is required. LLL has been run in a variety of different settings - as an three evening course, as a one day course, as a two hour condensed course, for 2 people, for 70 people, for singles, for unmarried couples, for married couples, for mums, for couples in crisis, for prison inmates and their girlfriends, and for naval officer cadets. It's pretty versatile.
LISTENING LOVING LAUGHING course dates LLL runs in different parts of Bristol, most often in the Cotham/Clifton area, starting promptly at 10am and finishing by 430pm.
Click here to apply online. Alternatively download course leaflet here or contact us at 0117 924 1480 claire@bcft.co.uk
INSIGHT - for couples starting out Click here to apply online. Read a really good article in the Times magazine about our INSIGHT course here Although the vast majority of couples who do INSIGHT are getting married, the course is ideally suited to those thinking about getting engaged. It's also good for those who have been married for up to 2 or 3 years. The first part of the course starts with a day in the classroom with other couples. Here you will learn about relationship skills that work. There's nothing scary involved. No counselling. No dark secrets to share. After completing a long questionnaire that will get you thinking about your relationship, we spend the rest of the day taking you through bad habits to avoid and good habits to build on. For the second part, you'll spend a few evenings with a mentor couple going through the questionnaire. Mentors are ordinary married couples who have survived the ups and downs of married life. We will have spent a day teaching them how to be mentors - which is a bit like being a well-informed uncle and aunt. So don't think of them as experts or counsellors. They're not. You'll get to learn a lot about them and they'll get to learn a lot about you. If you want to choose your own mentors, we'll train them up. Otherwise we'll try and match appropriately with one of our pool of wonderful volunteer couples. Couples tell us that, even though they started out feeling pretty confident, they are much more so after completing our course. Quite a few couples have got engaged as a result. That's good news. A small number have decided they can't make things work out. That's sad but it's also a blessing in disguise. Better to figure it out now than later when you have two or three children. It's pretty normal to feel a bit apprehensive about both the day course and the mentoring. Most people expect it all to be embarrassing and scary. It's not. It's practical, fun and interesting. We use a combination of Listening Loving Laughing and the FOCCUS inventory - two programmes with strong research backing. Studies of PREP, a course using similar principles to LLL, show improvements in relationship quality, reduction in conflict, and a 50-80% lower divorce risk over 5 years. Studies of FOCCUS show that it can distinguish successful and unsuccessful relationships years later. There is survey evidence that mentoring using an inventory can virtually eliminate divorce risk in the early years of marriage. So INSIGHT is a course with both belt and braces! INSIGHT runs most months. The skills day usually takes place in a school in Cotham in central Bristol from 10 until 5. The mentoring usually takes place during the evening in the mentor couples own home.
INSIGHT course dates Part one of the course runs in different parts of Bristol, most often in the Cotham/Clifton area, starting promptly at 10am and finishing by 430pm. This day is BCFT's basic skills course for couples, Listening Loving Laughing. Part two usually takes place in a mentor couple's own home with times to be arranged privately with the mentors, using a questionnaire filled out online beforehand.
Click here to apply online. Alternatively download course leaflet here or contact us at 0117 924 1480 claire@bcft.co.uk
CONNECT - for married couples who want to become mentors Click here to apply online. If you have a good marriage and want to give something back to others, try our mentor training course CONNECT. Your experience can make an enormous difference to the lives of couples starting out. Harry Benson's new book Mentoring Marriages, available from Amazon and most book shops for £7.99, explains the process in full. You can also read a good article about the mentoring process from My Weekly magazine. It's important to think of mentor couples in the same way you think about well-informed uncles and aunts. Mentor couples are not experts or counsellors. They are just ordinary couples who have been around the block, survived a few ups and downs, and are still married at the end of it all. that makes you like an uncle and aunt. Our one day training gives you enough information to make you well-informed. And that's it. Provided you think of yourselves as uncles and aunts, you won't worry about how to solve other couples problems. Of course you will occasionally find couples who do have problems. But your job is simply to highlight the problems and get the couple talking. Because you don't have to solve anything, you really don't have to be experts. The reason that mentoring is much easier than you might think is because of the questionnaire we use. Actually it's an inventory called FOCCUS. This is a shopping list of issues that are relevant to the early years of married life. All you have to do is walk them through the questionnaire, subject by subject, item by item. Our training course teaches you how to do this as well as how to get them talking and how to spot unhealthy patterns of communication and encourage healthy patterns.. Ultimately there are many ways to mentor couples. This course teaches you how to mentor dating, engaged or newlywed couples who go through our INSIGHT course. You will only be given 2-3 couples a year. Mentoring each of these usually takes 3-4 evenings. So your maximum commitment is unlikely to exceed 12 evenings in a year. There are other opportunities to mentor couples within BCFT, such as couples in crisis or prisoners rejoining their family. CONNECT is a good entry point for either of these options. CONNECT runs a handful of times a year, usually on a weekday morning at the BCFT office in Kingsdown in central Bristol. The course takes up to 3 hours. Very occasionally we'll run a slightly shorter course on a weekday evening, depending on demand. We're very happy for you to contribute to BCFT if you wish. Otherwise the course and materials costs you nothing but your time and care for others. If you're outside Bristol, the training will cost you £50 per person or couple.
CONNECT course dates Courses usually take place on a weekday morning at 25 Somerset St, Kingsdown, Bristol from 10am to 1pm. We can be fairly flexible with dates depending on numbers.
Click here to apply online. Alternatively download course leaflet here or contact us at 0117 924 1480 claire@bcft.co.uk
PARENTING - for any parent Click here to apply online. BCFT's main business is strengthening couple relationships. Kids do best when both parents live together and don't fight. But there is also a great deal of overlap between how couples get on and how they act as parents. Kids also do better when both parents are authoritative - firm in establishing boundaries as well as gentle in giving love and care. The likelihood of authoritative parenting is heavily influenced by the parents view of themselves and their marital relationship. But authoritative parenting is also a skill that can be learnt. This is where parenting classes come in. Parenting classes give parents clear strategies for handling their kids firmly and lovingly. Discussing these in a group also makes it reassuring when you hear how other parents have the same sorts of difficulties as you do! None of us have parenting taped. BCFT parenting team leader is Nettie Matthews. She is training parenting course leaders using the superb programmes from Family Caring Trust. These courses cover the age ranges 0-5s, 5-11s and teens. Our courses are open to all parents. But we especially want those who'd like to run courses themselves so that we can multiply and grow our provision of courses throughout Bristol. Please note: BCFT subsidises course costs so that all parents can attend, no matter what their ability to pay. We ask only for £25. At the end of each course we encourage and welcome voluntary donations so that others can benefit.
PARENTING course dates We have courses for parents of 0-5s, 5-11s, and teens. Contact us for a leaflet. Just tell us which course you would like when you send in the form. Even if you can't see a date that suits below, send in the form anyway and we'll make sure you get invited for the next course. No money needed.
Alternatively download course leaflet here or contact us at 0117 924 1480 claire@bcft.co.uk
The Marriage Course is a series of eight sessions designed to help any married couple strengthen their relationship. It doesn't matter if you've been married for less than two years or more than thirty. If you have a strong marriage this course will help you make it even better and will reinforce your good habits. If on the other hand your marriage is in difficulty, the course will help provide you with very practical tools to help you work through the issues. Some couples who are separated have used the course as a way of trying to get back together. While the course is based on Christian principles couples are welcome with or without a church background. Many couples who are not churchgoers have enjoyed and benefited from doing the course. The Marriage Course is very practical and will help equip you with the tools needed to build a healthy marriage that lasts a lifetime. It's a great opportunity to spend time together as a couple looking at the important issues in your marriage. Each week you are given the opportunity to enjoy a special meal together and listen to a talk. Then there is plenty of time to discuss the topic as a couple. There is no group work involved at any stage of the course. The course covers the following:
BCFT doesn't run The Marriage Course directly. Courses are run in a number of churches throughout Bristol. The emphasis of the course is very much on your marriage. There is some Christian content. Regardless of faith, couples of all backgrounds will find the course equally appropriate. See www.themarriagecourse.org for general information For details of courses in Bristol, contact Katharine Hill at 0117 962 1125 Katharine.Hill@cff.org.uk
|
