Eugene, Ore., Nov. 30, 2007 - Foster Parent College (FPC) today announced immediate availability of "Relationships: Strengthening Communications," an online training course for foster parenting couples. Based on the popular Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) -- one of the world's most comprehensive and respected divorce-prevention/marriage enhancing curriculums -- this original FPC course helps foster parents improve communication with each other, resolve conflicts in their relationship, and promote intimacy.

Leading the multimedia web-delivered course onscreen are PREP founders Howard J. Markman, Ph.D., and Scott M. Stanley, Ph.D., director and co-director, respectively, of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver, Colo. For the FPC course, the authors adapted their research-based program to case histories and situations fostering couples most often encounter.

"We hope to affect real progress in the foster community with 'Relationships: Strengthening Communications.' Like PREP, it is not therapy but an education program," said Stanley. "The course teaches couples how to communicate effectively, work together on parenting issues, and manage conflicts without anger or violence."

Markman and Stanley agree that foster parenting couples experience far more stress in their relationship than many other non-fostering parents.

"The stress of raising children who may have more serious issues often interferes with safe, productive interactions between spouses," said Markman. "Blame, resentment and anger must be dealt with in calm, caring fashion using effective communications techniques if couples are to resolve issues before they boil over."

Based upon PREP principles but built from scratch, the new FPC course incorporates specific research-based techniques used by thousands of successful couples.

Marriage educators Markman and Stanley kick off this advanced workshop course with a quiz regarding couples' current beliefs. Markman and Stanley go on to explain the four 'Communication Danger Signs' - escalation, invalidation, negative interpretations, and withdrawal and avoidance - and their patterns.

The course offers diagnostic tools and techniques that promote the emotional safety needed to talk openly in your family - without fighting - including the "Take a Break" technique useful when things get tough. Finally, they offer you a lesson on the "Speaker-Listener" technique - or how to talk without fighting - interlaced with interactive exercises for skills development using "I" statements and paraphrasing.

"Relationships: Strengthening Communications" is an advanced workshop course designed for both spouses to take concurrently, although anyone interested in bettering personal relationships through improved communications may take this course, or any other Foster Parent College course, from anywhere the Internet is available.

Many foster parenting agencies in 3 countries accept our training as fulfillment of their in-service training requirements.

Foster Parent College is an operating division of Northwest Media Inc., of Eugene, Ore., a publisher of specialized educational curriculum for social services agencies. Since FPC launched it's online operations in May 2004, more than 25,000 online trainings have been delivered in an easy, cost effective format to foster caregivers in the US, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

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