Marriage encounter — program to assist spouses in interpersonal crisis: historical-critical review

The article describes the methodology of the program for helping spouses in interpersonal crisis-“Marriage encounter”, implemented in the practice of pastoral counseling of the Russian Orthodox Church. The history of the origin and dissemination of the program is described; the transformations of the program on its historical path are outlined. Characteristics of the stages of the program development and implementation are set out, such as ‘Spanish’, ‘Latin American’, ‘American’, ‘branching out and spreading worldwide’ and ‘Polish’. Peculiarities of the program’s perception in different countries and denominations are shown, and the current position of the program within the social ministry of the Russian Orthodox Church is described. Statistics of the territorial and classroom coverage of the program is presented both on a global scale and in the context of the Orthodox reception of the program. A brief overview of critical and empirical foreign studies of the program is given, and studies of the possibility of its destructive influence on program participants are outlined. The effectiveness of the program is described on the basis of foreign studies.