NATCHEZ &045; Dennis and Mary Flach treasure their strong marriage and work diligently to keep it that way. Their own experiences as a couple led them to become qualified instructors in a program that will help other husbands and wives protect and enhance their bonds.

The Flaches will teach the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP) beginning Feb. 7 and continuing on Monday evenings through March 14. Classes will be held at the Historic Natchez Foundation conference room, 108 S. Commerce St., 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The registration fee is $25 per couple. Checks are payable to NC:P.R.E.P., P.O. Box 842, Natchez, MS 39121.

Dennis Flach, pastor at New Covenant Presbyterian Church, said his background as a minister may enhance his aptitude for teaching such a class but that the program is separate from that role.

&uot;PREP is not conditioned by involvement in the church I represent,&uot; he said. &uot;It is not a spiritual program. It is a behavioral change program.&uot;

Who should be interested in taking part in this course? The PREP program organizers first would respond that anyone could be a candidate, Flach said. &uot;But then they would say there are three categories. And they stress it is not intended to be therapeutic but instead educational.&uot;

These are the three categories of couples who might benefit most from the course:

Couples who are contemplating marriage for the first time or remarriage.

Married couples who are courageous about their marriage, enjoying it and seeing that it can be enhanced even more.

Married couples whose lives are in change or readjustment periods, such as passing through their first year, having children for the first time, making career changes, going through any significant changes and transitions. &uot;A certain amount of tension is caused by change,&uot; Flach said. PREP teaches skills that help couples to manage the tension better.

Mary Flach said potential participants should understand that the classes are not counseling sessions. &uot;That’s what I like about it,&uot; she said. &uot;I want to be sure people know they will not have to answer questions or talk about their relationships in any way.&uot;

The course is not designed to help couples who are unmotivated, Dennis Flach said. &uot;If divorce is a foregone conclusion, this course will not help. If there is an abuse situation, this is not the right place. They need something more therapeutic, a mental-health model, not an education, learning-skills model.&uot;

He said he also is especially interested in having couples whose relational ties, whether family or other, and support options are few in the face of difficulty.

Both he and his wife, Mary, wanted to become better counselors, Dennis Flach said. That is what made them excited about learning to teach the PREP method.

Providing a positive program for the community is their goal, Mary Flach said. &uot;There’s a need for this. We found in our own marriage after 26 years we have improved our own communication skills after going through the course training.&uot;

Mary Flach is manager of the Natchez McRae’s store. &uot;In managing people, she wanted to be able to help people more effectively,&uot; Dennis Flach said. &uot;And in this community we both love so much, we saw many people struggling.&uot;

Dennis Flach had known about the effectiveness of PREP, but the classes always had been held too far away for him to attend. Recently, however, he learned that a friend in Memphis was offering the program through a non church-based project called Family Matters.

Flach was able to enroll in the Memphis program, along with his wife.

&uot;Couples who go through PREP become more skillful in protecting the prized relationship of marriage,&uot; he said.