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Joining your resources with our passion means you become a meaningful
part of creating stronger marriages and a stronger community in West Michigan and beyond.   

A problem worth solving

According to a host of sociological and psychological research studies, a united family is not only the best environment for raising healthy and happy children but also provides the educational, financial, and emotional support our society needs to thrive.

By contrast, divorced adults and their children bear a myriad of consequences. There is a significant drop in their ability to be productive at work, school, or their community. They have a much higher likelihood of engaging in high-risk behaviors. Findings from The Heritage Foundation report that children of divorce are more likely to commit crimes, run away from home, be suspended from school, smoke cigarettes, abuse alcohol or drugs, carry weapons, have fist fights, and experiment with sex by age 11.

For the first 18 months following divorce, between 77 and 83 percent of mothers and their children live in poverty. State and federal government spends around 150 billion dollars per year to subsidize and sustain single-parent families. It’s estimated that our nation’s 1.4 million divorces in 2002 cost taxpayers more than 30 billion dollars.

An effective solution...

Pivotal research over the last 50 years exploring relational attachment and bonding has revealed critical insights into the foundational reasons why marriages fall apart. Out of this research, Dr. Sue Johnson developed the most empirically validated model for healing relationships in existence - Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT).

For the first time in history, we have a detailed and effective road map that outlines exactly why marriages die and how to bring them back to life. All of WMMC’s marriage services are built directly from the principles of EFT and all our therapists have extensive training and experience in this modality.

We all long for loving connection and we all fear facing life alone. When we risk letting ourselves be fully known and present with our spouse, the innate design of attachment naturally begins to work in our favor. We instinctively begin to move closer, see deeper, and soften toward each other’s pain. This movement creates a safe space where couples automatically begin to trust, heal, and reconnect with each other.

A healthy marriage is the cornerstone of a healthy family, healthy children, healthy schools, healthy workplaces, healthy communities, and a healthy nation. This is exactly why WMMC focuses all its services on creating healthy relationships…because every marriage deserves hope!

Why Partner with WMMC ^{(the fine print)}

We have two primary objectives at WMMC, first, to provide highly reputable, effective, and quality marriage restoration services and, second, to ensure these services are accessible to all couples, no matter their financial situation.
Your generosity is what makes our second objective possible. 100% of your donation (unless otherwise specified) will go to the WMMC Scholarship Fund, which provides financially struggling couples with discounted rates on our services. Couples who would ordinarily be unable to afford the marriage support they need can have access to these life changing resources.

How does the WMMC Scholarship Fund work?

Short Version:
    Couples with proven financial need are granted a percentage discount off certain services used. The discount awarded is based on available funds and level of need. To ensure each couple has “skin in the game”, no couple will ever receive a 100% discount.

Full Version:
The WMMC Scholarship Fund is a secure fund, restricted to the singular use of off-setting the total cost of WMMC services for a married couple in financial need. Every couple desiring to utilize this scholarship fund must prove their financial need via completing a thorough financial aid application. If the couple is approved for financial aid, a certain percentage will be discounted from the services they utilize within the Marriage Restoration Track. The exact percentage of discount is granted on a case-by-case basis and guided by (1) the total amount available in the WMMC Scholarship Fund and (2) justifiable need. 

The discount percentage is then applied to the Marriage Restoration Track services used by the approved couple that fall reasonably within one continuous episode of treatment*. The corresponding amount of income lost to WMMC due to the discounted services will be deducted from the WMMC Scholarship Fund and applied to the WMMC services income account.

No couple will ever be granted a 100% discount. Everyone who utilizes the WMMC Scholarship Fund will be required to invest some amount of their own money (and time) into their marriage growth. WMMC supports such a boundary in light of the research showing that having a meaningful amount of “skin in the game” (i.e. money, time, effort) is strongly correlated with an increase in desirable outcomes.

*Continuous Episode of Treatment:
Here is what we mean when we say “continuous episode of treatment”:
In this case “treatment episode” does not automatically mean the couple is receiving formal therapy. A treatment episode with WMMC may or may not include any combination of formal therapy (i.e. marriage counseling) and other marriage related services (i.e. intensives, video series, or support group).

A treatment episode’s scope is defined as the period between the couple’s first service date and/or first claim reported and their final service date/claim.

A treatment episode will be considered “continuous” if the couple’s interval of services received remains 6 months or less. If there is a gap of 6 months or more between any one service to the other, the couple’s treatment episode will no longer be considered “continuous” and they will need to reapply for financial aid if they so desire.

NOTE: Situations where WMMC may be the cause of a couple experiencing 6 months or more between services (i.e. staff shortage, clerical mistake, etc.) and losing their financial aid status as a result will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Any couple believing their case falls within this category is encouraged to send an email to [email protected] with the header, “Appeal: loss of financial aid status”. In the body of the email, please request a hearing for your case and include a short (one or two paragraphs) description of why you believe your situation deserves special consideration.