Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Behavioral Health is pleased to welcome couples to its Marital Health Treatment Program at the Cleveland Clinic Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center. This psychologist-directed group therapy program teaches couples whose marriage has lost its luster how to make their relationships closer and more resilient.

Referred couples are scheduled to a 10-session program after completing a detailed marriage assessment. Each program includes a group of 10 couples who meet weekly at the same time for 10 consecutive weeks.

Each of the weekly sessions incorporates three core components:
• Relationship enhancement, including conflict resolution, improving sexual intimacy, forgiveness, cognitive restructuring, and other topics and techniques
• Mindfulness, including gradual but intensive training in mindfulness meditation to teach how to experience events without reacting to them, listening without judging, sensate focus techniques, relapse prevention and other techniques
• Communication skill-building, including values clarification, assertiveness training, understanding differences in communication styles and exploring alternate ways to communicate

Each 90-minute weekly group session is led by Ted W. Raddell, PhD, a psychologist in the Center for Behavioral Health who specializes in marital therapy, group therapy and marital/family functioning. Dr. Raddell is assisted during sessions by a postdoctoral fellow in psychology. 

The Marital Health Treatment Program is designed for couples in which both partners are committed to improving and reviving the marriage. Both partners must commit to do the following:
• Complete the assessment paperwork required for program admission
• Attend each of the 10 sessions with their spouse
• Complete the assigned activities
• Go out on at least one date per week
• Not use the word “divorce” during the 10 weeks of the program  The cost of the 10-session program is $500 per couple on a self-pay basis. Prepayment is required and refunds cannot be offered for missed sessions.

Sessions are held Mondays from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Beachwood Family Health and Surgery Center. Call 216.839.3337 for the schedule of upcoming 10-week programs.