Structured Enrichment Programs

Fifty programs were selected to be presented in this volume. They include Program for the Family Life Cycle (premarital and marital programs, man-woman relationships, parenting, later stages of the family life cycle), General Purpose Programs (Introductory and intermediate programs, affective cognition programs, relational skill building), and Programs for Different Kinds of Families (non-traditional, dysfunctional). The basic unit of SE is the exercise. A group of 3 to 10 exercises linked together by a common denominator of subtopic or content forms a lesson. A series of lessons around a major topic forms a program. During the creation of these programs, five distinct guidelines were followed (L'Abate, 1985): (a) ease of delivery, that is, individuals with personal rather than professional qualifications can administer these programs under the supervision of a more experienced professional; (b) realistic relevance to family matters;(c) efficiency and cost-effectiveness by making it easy to train paraprofessional personnel in a relatively short time;(d) ethical and professional considerations concerning the manner of delivery, quality control, and content of each exercise; and finally (e) prescriptive specificity qulified by flexibility and versatility, that is, each program is selected to meet as much as possible the objectives stated by each family within the context of the enricher's judgment.... This book is organized to facilitate learning how to implement SE in as quick and responsible a fashion as possible. Verbatim instructions for direct delivery of each exercise are given. Consequently, experience and learning can be gradual and not anxiety-provoking, in contrast to other methods of training and family therapy. --- excerpts from book's Preface