• Starting Strong Workshop comes to McKinney Nov. 14, Feb. 20, May 7 and Aug. 6
MCKINNEY – They say you never really know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes. Scott and Abigail Doust approach their work with painfully earned, firsthand experience. That sort of understanding is leading people to their door for help with one of life’s biggest puzzles – relationships.
“We realized early in marriage that we didn’t know how to communicate well in our relationship. Our own pre-married counseling wasn’t very helpful. We found after just a few years that our relationship was in trouble and at the crossroads of possible divorce,” said Abigail Doust. “We went to a marriage conference and there we found many helpful tools and principles. After we applied those tools in our marriage and saw success, we were eager to help others experience the same.”
The Dousts plunged headfirst into their education and training. Today, 18 years of marriage later, they are the founders of The Family Greenhouse. This nonprofit is the love project of people determined to turn the divorce trend around, said volunteer Kennett Smith of McKinney.
“I cannot begin to explain the quality of leadership and support that Abigail and Scott offer,” Smith said. “I've volunteered for other non-profits in the past and The Family Greenhouse is, by far, the one that has impacted my life the most positively.”
For those about to say “I do,” The Family Greenhouse is offering Starting Strong workshops in the McKinney area. The Dousts want couples to avoid what Abigail Doust calls “the yuck.”
“We wish we could erase part of our story,” she said. “But it is possible to create an environment where your relationship will thrive from the very beginning of marriage. That is what the Starting Strong Workshop is about.”
The Starting Strong Workshop comes to McKinney Nov. 14, Feb. 20, May 7 and Aug. 6. Couples can choose any of those dates to experience a full day of “casual and real” learning.
“You and six to 12 couples will be enjoying the ride together,” Doust said. “But there are no open mic times here – your interactions are with your fiancé and you get to apply what you are learning as you go.”
“We want couples to walk away with a game plan of how their relationship will get better over the next week, month, and year and over a lifetime. We hope they will have tools to help them better understand each other’s personalities, communicate more effectively, manage stress as it comes, and resolve conflict successfully,” Scott Doust said. “We hope to save you hours of fighting and hundreds of dollars in counseling.”
The workshop cost is $150, but attendees can receive a $60 savings off their Texas marriage license through the “Twogether in Texas” program.
For more information, visit familygreenhouse.org or call 972-694-3114.
Website: www.FamilyGreenhouse.org
Facebook: TheFamilyGreenhouse
Twitter: FAMGreenhouse
Instagram: FAMGreenhouse
Blog: www.familygreenhouse.org/category/blog/
Vimeo: The Family Greenhouse
YouTube: TheFamilyGreenhouse
Pinterest: FamGreenhouse
Podcast: The Family Greenhouse Podcast
Awards: Great Nonprofits (www.GreatNonProfits.org) awarded The Family Greenhouse the 2015 Top-Rated Non-Profit after receiving multiple 5 star reviews from the public. More Information on the award at: http://greatnonprofits.org/org/the-family-greenhouse