Hope-Focused Approach to Couple Enrichment in Counseling

The hope-focused approach to marriage enrichment strives to renew marriages that are in crisis. The approach was developed in the late 1990s by Everett L. Worthington to benefit couples going through conflict. Although the approach is strongly rooted in Christian principles, the biblical language can be modified to meet the needs of non-Christian couples as well. The approach conceptualizes marriage in terms of faith, work, and love. Hope-focused approach (HFA) draws from popular secular couples therapies with a theoretical framework that supports accommodative scaffolding on the part of the practitioner. HFA provides a theoretical and skill base for practitioners working within a Christian context. In essence, it is an approach to couples therapy known as hope-focused couple therapy (HFCT) and an approach to enrichment known ...