A marriage counsellor has called on churches to place more emphasis on post-marriage counselling as an effective means of stemming the high number of marriages that are heading for the divorce courts. Eddie Coffie, Secretary of the Ghana Christian Association of the Times Square Church, New York, said usually parents, prospective couples and even the church were too focused about the events preceding the marriage and the wedding day itself than the real essence of the union. The trend was to relegate the period after the wedding to the background, he said, at the launch on Saturday of his book titled: “Conflict Resolution In Marriage,” which seeks to provide answers to conflicts that arise in marriages, their origins and how to eliminate them from eating up otherwise happy marriage unions. “A real focus on post-marriage counselling will bring a sense of direction and hope for the new couple who are normally different people with different tastes but who wish to stay in the union of marriage. It is what sustains the viability of the marriage,” he added. Mr Coffie, a staff of the Bank of New York, explained that marriage conflicts were inevitable, stressing that, “there are minefields across the marriage path and yet there is no support and knowledge in post-marriage times. After marriage, couples are usually left to struggle on their own and this is when the problems arise.” He noted that some couples held on to their problems and struggled alone, refusing to open up to counsellors because some counsellors tended to broadcast their problems. “This attitude depresses the marriage further and couples lose trust in the very institution that they otherwise should have been running to in times of crisis.” Mr Coffie said marriage was forever and couples should go the extra mile and see each other as a gift from God, adding that, behaviour traits should be seen as challenges that must be overcome. Launching the book, Pastor Kweku Osei Bimpong, Associate Pastor of the Covenant Family Community Church (CFCC), Cantonments in Accra, said marriage was not an easy task and asked couples to keep working at it and place the word of God as a source of solutions to the problems that arise. “It is interesting that people are usually asked when they will get married but hardly are they supported when conflicts arise. It is in this regard that we have decided to include post-marriage counselling in our church to keep couples in the business of marriage and sustaining the union as ordained by God himself.” He described the book as a “must read” by couples and even persons wishing to get married so that they would have a grounding in the nature and art of marriage. “By this, couples will know that conflicts abound in marriages. But when it comes they will not go apart but seek counselling that will resolve the issues.” Reviewing the book, the Reverend Paddy Brew, General Overseer of New Vision Chapel, urged men to live upright lives since they were usually the causes of rifts in marriages. He asked married couples to read the book and renew their understanding of conflicts in marriage and the solutions to those conflicts. “Marriages, like cars, need to be maintained and this book offers the opportunity for us to maintain our marriages,” Rev. Brew said. Source: GNA