Claudia and David Arp, MSW
David and Claudia Arp, MSW, founders of Marriage Alive Seminars, are marriage educators, columnists and authors of numerous books and small group video curriculum including "The Second Half of Marriage and 10 Great Dates" (Zondervan). You can visit their website: www.marriagealive.com
Are You a Natural or a Learner?
Greg and Megan are “naturals.” They enjoy the same things and can even finish each other’s sentences. Katie and Walt are anything but naturals. Their interests lie at different ends of the spectrum. With little in common, they continually must adapt to each other and struggle to find ways to connect. Who do you identify […] Read More >
Avoiding Affluenza
Each fall we join the other throng of Knoxvillians, who come out and stand in line for a free flu shot. Why do we do this? It’s not because it’s fun or painless. Then for the next couples of days we drag around. Pleasant experience? Not in our top ten, so why do we do […] Read More >
Be Good to Your Marriage
Do you want to be good to your marriage? Now, not later when the kids grow up, is the best time to be good to your marriage. Your marriage can actually influence your children in a very positive way — especially when you’re good to it! Children who grow up in happy, intact, functional families […] Read More >
Does Your Marriage Need a Facelift?
If you’ve been married several years, boredom and flatness may threaten your marital bonds. It may be time for a face lift. Remember, the marriage relationship is ever-changing. Your marriage is either growing and expanding or shrinking and withering. Sometimes couples hesitate to reveal personal concerns that might trigger a conflict. But if you don’t […] Read More >
Energize Your Marriage
Do you want to energize your marriage? Then upgrade your communication skills. Recently we upgraded our computers. We got rid of old files and added new features to make them more efficient. Frankly, it was a little scary, but now we love our more powerful computers. No way would we go back to the old […] Read More >
Enthusiastically Embrace Change
How do you look at change? Change can be positive or negative — depending on how you look at it. Do you see it as an adventure or is “change” a scary word to you? Maybe you just don’t want to rock the boat — even if it’s going nowhere. Change can be risky, but […] Read More >
Feeling Flooded?
Warning! A flood may be coming — especially when your communication gets washed out. Did you know you can drown your spouse with no water at all? It’s true — it can happen when you feel flooded — a condition that is usually preceded by washed-out communication! In the closeness of a marriage relationship, from […] Read More >
Having Trouble Saying No?
If you have trouble saying no, you have trouble! Let’s look at the perils of over- commitment and how to avoid them. We don’t know about you, but we’re both activists and it’s hard to say no. Then we get over-committed and find ourselves fatigued and stressed. It’s especially hard to say no to people […] Read More >
Holidays Hard On Love?
Did you realize that the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the time spouses and family members are most ignored? Why? We get so busy doing things for our families that we don’t take the time to spend with them. So take a few moments and express your devotion to each other. Are you mutually […] Read More >
How Compatible Are You?
Compatibility is not a state in which you begin a marriage, but rather it’s a goal to be achieved. Another way to look at matrimony and compatibility is: We fall in love with a personality, but we must live with a character. How have you changed since you were first married? Research reveals we become […] Read More >