Mediate Michigan

An interesting article by W. Bradford Wilcox on whether the current state of the economy can save marriages can be found here.

The article notes:

But there may be a silver lining in all this financial pain. For most married Americans, the Great Recession seems to be solidifying, not eroding, the marital bond. The divorce rate is actually falling. It declined to 16.9 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2008 from 17.5 divorces in 2007 (a 3% drop), after rising from 16.4 divorces per 1,000 married women in 2005 (a 7% increase).

To be sure, some couples have simply postponed a divorce until the economy rebounds, when they expect to have a better shot at starting new lives.

But anecdotal evidence suggests that other couples have responded to the recession by rededicating themselves to their marriages.

Perhaps more important, the Great Recession is leading some spouses to develop a renewed appreciation for the social and economic solidarity engendered by marriage and family life.

Couples finding themselves in a situation in which divorce is not a viable option may wish to consider marital mediation as a way to devise creative, concrete and practical solutions to issues which are troubling their marriage.  Marital mediation is an alternative to therapy or couples counseling and focuses primarily on negotiating solutions to conflict rather than on the feelings surrounding these issues.