Institute for Relationship Development
Helping You Help Couples Grow
Helping couples grow is among the most rewarding —
and most challenging — work we do.
Whether you're a coach, pastor, mentor, or clinician, helping couples is unlike any other kind of helping relationship. Success depends on understanding three dimensions: the man, the woman, and the relationship between them. Yet many of us begin helping couples before we have a clear framework for understanding what we're seeing.
The Institute exists to help you bridge the gap between training and effective couples work.
One of the most overlooked aspects of couples work is understanding how men and women experience and respond differently within intimate relationships—and incorporating those differences into how we assess and help a couple move forward.
Our Purpose
To equip and empower men and women to create happier, healthier marriages.
Our Mission
To fill the gap between training and effective practice through ongoing support for coaches, pastors, mentors, and clinicians who educate, guide, and support men, women, and couples in the most intimate human relationship.
Our Vision
To create a worldwide movement in marriage education that moves beyond the limitations of today's gender-neutral paradigm by honoring the unique God-given designs of husbands and wives, thereby transforming marriages, families, and future generations.
Resources to Help You Help Couples Grow
Prepare/Enrich Facilitator Certification Workshop
Do you have a heart for couples? This Workshop is for anyone who wants a proven, research-based tool for premarital/marital counseling, marriage enrichment, and relationship coaching.
You're a Certified Facilitator. Now explore how it works IRL.
Whether you've been Certified for a day or a decade, there's alway more to learn. This free video series provides real-life examples and a private space for discussion. Share your own examples. Ask. Connect. Learn.
Making Sense of Gender Differences in Couples Work
Men and women are different. Always have been. Always will be. It's why they got together in the first place. Most training for couples work never talks about that one big "elephant" in the room. But we do.
Charter Membership
Institute for Relationship Development
Join a community of pastors, ministry leaders, marriage mentors, coaches, and mental health professionals who are dedicated to helping husbands and wives create happier, healthier marriages.
Membership includes monthly live training, practical resources, and a place to ask questions, discuss cases, and continue growing together, even as we are helping couples grow.