- Taylor Sparkman, ELEVATE Alum
"The ELEVATE class was a wonderful growing and learning experience for my partner and I. My partner and I represented the “younger couples” as many others are engaged, married, or have been married for decades. Only having dated a little less than a year when we participated in this class, my partner and I gained insight from the more experienced couples in addition to the material that was being presented. The most helpful information for my partner and I reminded us to value and appreciate our partner and to consistently thank your partner for the little things they do each day. This class was a great aid in our relationship because it taught us how to handle issues before they arise, rather than waiting until they put too much stress on the relationship. Jaime was a wonderful, friendly, and relatable teacher who always kept us laughing, learning, and focused on bettering ourselves for our partners. My relationship with my partner is stronger than ever because of the tips we learned in class, and I would strongly recommend this class to anyone who is interested in bettering themselves and improving their communication to ensure a more positive, healthy relationship with their significant other."
- Arun Jani, ELEVATE Alum
"Going to the Elevate class helped my partner and me identify the strongest and weakest components of our relationship. The course really helped us develop better communication skills as a couple. We live a few hours apart and are busy graduate students, which has made it challenging to maintain a healthy level of communication in our relationship. The Elevate course motivated us to put in a daily routine of speaking by phone most evenings in addition to getting together on weekends.
The course curriculum was very well designed and helped us remain engaged and attentive during class. We learned from the instructor, course notebook, videos, in-class activities, and the experiences of other couples. We both really benefitted from the questions in the notebook as they helped us to identify problems or other aspects of our relationship that we want to improve.
We are confident that the skills we developed in the class will help us grow closer and achieve our future goals as a couple. We feel renewed in our commitment to communicate more effectively and build trust to make our love grow stronger.
We would definitely recommend this class to our friends and family who are seeking to enrich their own relationships. We believe a healthy relationship is the basis for forming a kind and supportive family, which in turn leads to a more kind and supportive society."
- Mr. & Mrs. McVay, Before You Tie the Knot Alums
"Thank you so much for all of the wisdom you imparted to us during the Before You Tie the Knot workshop series! It has 100% impacted our relationship for the better! We communicate more lovingly and now openly validate each other when we share information. We’re so grateful we took the class right before we tied the knot!"
- Kelvin Wells, Before You Tie the Knot Alum
I think the class really reminded us of the importance of continued learning and practice. It was a great start to provide us with some tools, and I think that we will continue to add more relationship tools to our toolbox
I very much liked the cycle of conflict and what "to do" as opposed to "what not to do". I particularly enjoyed learning more about the "I-messages" to describe how we feel when we encounter a trigger, in addition, to learning to respond non-defensively but by asking clarifying questions instead.
