FOCCUS - Assessment Tool for Marriage Preparation

FOCCUS is an instrument designed to help couples learn more about themselves and their unique relationship. It is not a test; it is not administered to predict the success or failure in marriage. It is a tool to aid pastors, sponsor couples, or others ministering to couples to help them name and work through issues before marriage. The thirteen topics in the FOCCUS instrument are

• Life Style Expectations
• Friends and Interests
• Personality Match
• Personal Issues
• Communication
• Problem Solving
• Religion and Values
• Parenting Issues
• Extended Family Issues
• Sexuality Issues
• Financial Issues
• Readiness Issues
• Marriage Covenant

The Marriage Covenant questions in FOCCUS deal with permanency, fidelity, unconditional love, openness to children, and shared faith in God.

Recently FOCCUS Inc. published an Abridged Edition of the FOCCUS Investor for couples with lower of reading education, (Audio cassettes available at Family Life office) Beginning the new fiscal year, July 2006, our office will no longer keep FOCCUS materials in stock except for what is used for the training programs.

The purpose of FOCCUS is to facilitate open and honest communication between the couple. They may need to be assured that FOCCUS is not a pass-fail test but a means to identify issues to be discussed before marriage. Since some couples may be concerned about who will have access to the results, the facilitator should discuss the confidentiality of the process. The facilitator should also point out the time-limited nature of the process. The questionnaire provides a profile of the couple at the time they responded to the FOCCUS statements. Thought and discussion following that time usually modifies their attitudes and level of awareness. The questionnaire then is not a permanent measure of the couple’s relationship. For that reason, and to preserve the integrity of the instrument, the FOCCUS questionnaire is to be destroyed at the end of the process and not sent home with the couple nor placed in the permanent file.

Family Life Director; Associate Director
700 N. Virgen de San Juan Blvd. • San Juan, TX 78589 • Phone 956-784-5012 Fax 956-784-5081

last updated 05-Jun-2008 9:48 sitemap