Dr. Thomas Bradbury, University of California at Los Angeles
It is not unusual for couples to go to marriage preparation classes or premarital counseling. Dr. Bradbury's research will test an unusual adjunct: forgiveness coaching. He will compare the outcomes of preparation that includes forgiveness coaching with counseling along standard models.

Although there are 2.4 million marriages each year in the United States, about half these marriages will end in divorce. "Usually the damage is done within the first two or three years," says Dr. Thomas Bradbury, a psychologist at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Formerly a marriage counselor, Bradbury has turned to researching how to prevent a marriage from hitting the rocks. "When couples came to see me for counseling, it was a case of 'too little, too late'," says Bradbury. "So I decided to start a research program that focuses on the positive aspects of the relationship early on, and that teaches skills that help couples nurture and support each other."

Bradbury's study will involve 225 couples who are engaged or have been married for no longer than 6 months. Couples will participate in small groups, and will receive 17 hours of instruction on communication skills that have been identified in prior longitudinal research on marriage. The sessions will include brief workshop lectures, along with frequent individual coaching sessions with the couples. The goal of these sessions is to give couples the information and the skills they need to keep their relationship strong, and to prevent problems before they start.

The study program splits couples into five groups which use five different models of intervention. While some utilize traditional conflict resolution methods, others focus on coaching partners in the skills of empathy, sharing and listening. Some groups emphasize forgiveness as a skill for supporting and developing compassion, while others do not.

Through questionnaires, audio taping of marital discussions, and interviews, Bradbury will compare the effectiveness of each type of intervention, including forgiveness coaching. His ultimate goal is to shape a new model for marriage guidance - a model that he hopes will be implemented with the help of religious and community organizations.

Bradbury hopes that marital interventions will eventually focus on building practical skills that keep people happy, rather than on fixing what's broken. "Marriage can be quite difficult, especially when both spouses have jobs and there are children in the family," says Bradbury, "I would like to help couples learn the skills needed to keep the relationship strong, so that it stays as a source of strength rather than as a source of stress."

As other states move to follow Louisiana by mandating pre-marital counseling, Bradbury's research couldn't be more timely. "If we're going to mandate interventions, let's first find out which interventions work," he says. "Creating the illusion of doing something is worse than doing nothing."

Dr. Thomas Bradbury is a Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Los Angeles. He is also the co-editor of "The Psychology of Marriage" and the editor of "The Developmental Course on Marital Dysfunction." He has twice received the Reuben Hill Award for Research on Marriage and the Family from the National Council on Family Relations and he is the recipient of the Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contributions from the American Psychological Association. This research project is fully funded by the Campaign for Forgiveness Research.

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