I imagine most married folks see eHarmony, quickly think “online dating,” and move right along. I certainly would. But eHarmony has added an exciting new program to their roster called eHarmony Marriage — an online alternative to marriage counseling for engaged couples, happy couples, and couples that need some help.

As someone in the latter category, I’ve discussed the idea of marriage counseling with my spouse. While he’s totally for it, attempting to find a time and place that works for us without children has been nearly impossible.

So, I was interested to check out the reviews of this program. Certainly parents have so much on their hands (read: Their Kids) that many times their marriage gets put on the back burner. I applaud couples who truly make an effort to spend quality time together as well as realize that all marriages, regardless of how great they are, need maintenance.

And so, wherever your marriage stands, you might want to check out the eHarmony Marriage program. I imagine it’s sort of like investing in your kids’ future happiness as well as your own. A small price to pay and not a ton of time or energy involved, at least when it comes to this program.

The parent bloggers (and their spouses) who took on this program were brave and open with their own relationships. A few shared their thoughts on the idea of engaging in such a program and how it would help them. “Even though I never would have thought online counseling would have been helpful for us, what the program did for us was get us talking about the issues we already knew we had.”

I was intrigued as to how an online program could be so personal and thorough. “The set-up is that you and your spouse separately take this questionnaire that asks about every facet of your life. You answer questions about your perceptions, your ideas, your religious, family, work, mental, spiritual, political opinions. It’s very thorough.” Another blogger added “I was surprised at how comprehensive the profile is, ours is 61 pages long. Each section has an introduction, an overview, an iconic (smiley, frowny face) representation of how satisfied each partner is in an area, and a graph to show the potential for improvement.”

Our sole dad blogger in the group had this to say about the Profile.

I think one of the most valuable things about the Profile is that, besides pointing out and explaining areas of challenge that you both probably already knew about, it pinpoints subtle areas of disaffection that may not be on the surface and, just as important, it highlights areas of agreement and confluence.

The bloggers seemed to enjoy the video segments that were carefully recommended based on their questionnaire responses.  “I think the videos are my favorite part because they are so well done, and the segments with Dr. Neil Clark Warren are really great. He has such an engaging, unpretentious style of speaking. His marriage advice was helpful and lined up with our beliefs.” Additionally, they felt the articles were informative. The articles are excellent, however. It’s nice to be reading a personal evaluation about your relationship, and see recommended articles that apply to specific issues you may be having. 

The bloggers appreciated the tone of the program itself. “I like that this doesn’t feel condescending. It’s all very real and comfortable. I was waiting, at every turn, for this to become trite or cheesy and, while some of the statements seemed a little prefabricated [as, duh, they are] it’s not annoying.”

Some bloggers noted the ease in participating in the program since they didn’t have to find a babysitter to get out of the house. “Probably one of the best things about the program was that we were actually able to do it. Had it been something that required us to get out of the house without the kids, we wouldn’t have done it. The cost of actual counseling combined with the cost of babysitting would have made it financially impossible for us.” They did state that the exercises do take time, but how nice to be able to do them in the comfort of your own home on your own time schedule. And the program offered a reminder to many of our bloggers: And while we both know, and tell ourselves, that we need to put in the time, both to work on our issues and to just be together, a solid reminder like this can’t hurt.

Stay tuned for more reviews this coming week. And if you’ve tried the program or are planning to do so, let us know! We’d love to hear your experience.

Surrender Dorothy 6/14

Table 4 Five 6/15

Three Kid Circus 6/18

24-7 6/19

Final Round up 6/20

The fee for the program is $49.95 for one month — the recommended series is 3 months at a discounted rate of $39.95. As one blogger noted, this is significantly less than marriage counseling and could be a good first step for folks who really need it and can’t afford the sessions. It could also help determine whether you really do need more help.