For information on attending, click here.

PRESS RELEASE
12th Annual Smart Marriages/Happy Families Conference
July 2 - July 6 • San Francisco

Contact: 202-362-3332
CMFCE@smartmarriages.com

The annual Smart Marriages Conference – the "Who's Who" and the "What's What"
of the marriage-strengthening, marriage education field – features 200 of the nation's
top marriage experts to include: Howard Markman, John Gray, Gary Chapman, Cloé Madanes,
Sue Johnson, Harville Hendrix, Pat Love, Michele Weiner-Davis, Scott Stanley,
David Olson, Bill Doherty, Willard Harley, Steven Stosny, John Van Epp, Barry McCarthy,
Terry Real, Esther Perel......click for presenter index.

More than 2,000 marriage educators will attend from all 50 states and more than a dozen countries.

A New Optimistic View of Marriage
Until very recently, we've been so discouraged by decades of marital breakdown that we've come to
accept our 50% divorce rate as inevitable. That's changing. It turns out couples have been operating
with good intentions but terrible information. We are entering a new era - a Marriage Renaissance
fueled by powerful new research and the realization that we can teach couples how to get smart
about marriage.

The Renaissance
We have new information about WHAT distinguishes successful marriages from those that fail.
And, we can teach couples how to do more of what works and less of what doesn't.

We have new information about WHY marriage matters. No wonder we’ve divorced like lemmings!
For years we've all said that marriage made no difference, that all family forms were equal -
that a family is a family. It turns out that children raised in intact first marriages with their own two
parents, are on average happier, healthier, wealthier and more successful
on all measures than those that aren't. So are the adults – both the men and the women.

We have new information about what to expect in marriage. Equipped with accurate maps
– the predictable peaks and valleys – it's easier for couples to navigate. And, it helps when EXPECTATIONS
match reality.

Marriage Education
Is the model that undergirds the administration's Healthy Marriage Initiative and upon which
the $150+ million a year for five years federal funding campaign is based (2007-2011). People at all levels - from neighborhoods to Congress – are sick of family breakdown and aren't going to take it anymore. The new Marriage
Education approach is available in a wide range of easy-to-teach courses. And, the courses can be taught just about anywhere – in community centers; congregations; schools; colleges; childbirth clinics; welfare, refugee,
head start and fatherhood settings; on military bases; in court houses; and, prisons. And they
can be taught to all classes and races. Marriage Education is beneficial for couples at any stage from dating to
cohabiting to engaged to empty-nesters and from starry-eyed newlyweds to deeply troubled couples on the
brink of divorce. It's a grass roots, community-based, public-health-education approach to marriage –
and it's sweeping the country.

To add to the optimism:
- Research shows that trained lay leaders can teach the skills as well as, or better than, professional counselors or therapists.
- Leader training takes only 2 - 3 days. Or, not at all. Many programs are DVD-based, "teach-right-out-of-the-box".
- The great variety of programs and providers means there's something for everyone.
- The classroom format and the ease of training and implementation means the courses are extremely cost-effective
and can be made widely accessible to diverse communities across the country.

We'll cover the challenges: Money, Love, Public Policy, Deployment, Infidelity, Stepfamilies, Children of Divorce,
Family Structure, Marriage Myths, Domestic Violence, Hot Monogamy, Singles Delaying Marriage, Strengthening
Black Marriages, Empty Nests, IMAGO, Premarital Inventories, Marriage Saver Congregations,
Learning Sobriety Together, Prison Populations, Divorce Reform....

We'll have plenty of opportunities for training. Attendees leave the conference certified to teach
dozens of different marriage and family strengthening courses.

And, there will be plenty of opportunities for the public to sample the programs.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE:

• Sponsored by the Washington, DC-based Coalition for Marriage, Couples and Family Education (CMFCE).
CMFCE is a non-partisan, non-sectarian, independent organization focused on strengthening marriage
and reducing family breakdown. More information is available on the website, http://www.smartmarriages.com.

• The conference is co-sponsored by national and international organizations, foundations and university
programs.

• The conference features 160 different workshops and training sessions presented by more than 200
leading marriage and family experts.

• Speakers include Gary Chapman author of The 5 Love Languages; Sue Johnson author of Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love; John Van Epp author of How to Avoid Marrying a Jerk; Frank Pittman, author of Grow Up, and Man Enough; John Gray, author of Mars and Venus Collide; Pat Love and Steven Stosny authors of How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It; Harville Hendrix author of Getting the Love You Want; Howard Markman & Scott Stanley authors of 12 Hours to a Great Marriage, Bill Doherty author of The First Dance and Take Back Your Wedding; Willard Harley author of His Needs, Her Needs; Esther Perel author of Mating in Captivity; Dave Carder author of Close Calls; Mike and Harriet McManus authors of Living Together; Scott Haltzman author of The Secrets of Happily Married Women; and Michele Weiner-Davis, author of Divorce Remedy and The Sex-Starved Wife.

While the conference is primarily attended by mental health professionals, clergy, lay leaders, government employees
and policy makers, the entire conference, including the pre and post conference training institutes, is open to the public.
The Seminars on Saturday, from 4-5:30pm are designed with the public in mind – to provide an opportunity to sample the
program for only $15 per person.

Accredited journalists are admitted to all sessions.

Who should cover this conference?