BreakThrough for Companions & Leaders

Support for Spouses in Distressed Marriages 

The BreakThrough experience is designed for individual spouses in troubled marriages. This makes it more widely available as it can be accessed by a motivated husband or wife, with or without their spouse. All activities are individual freeing participants to explore the material without self-censoring for fear of how the other may react, and making the course accessible to those in situations of risk.

Pastoral Care for Marriages in Distress

SmartLoving BreakThrough is a timely response to synod calls for a ‘marriage catechumenate’. It resources your community to quickly and easily provide accompaniment to spouses in distressed marriages.

The BreakThrough experience teaches participants how to identify conflict triggers, offers strategies to de-escalate an argument and gives constructive ways to re-establish connection between husband and wife.

Available in multiple formats and flexible delivery options, your parish or diocese can provide 24/7 marriage support for spouses in distressed marriages, offering them healing and hope.

Participants will ...

... learn how arguments happen, how to manage them better or avoid them altogether

... understand their internal drivers and how their spouse is triggering them

... process the pain of past injuries making them less reactive

... restore hope for their relationship’s future with practical strategies

Course Overview

Closed Captions

All BreakThrough course videos have closed captions in English and Spanish. Although the reflection activities and site content is in English, the website is compatible with Google Translate.

The printable Participant Notes (PDF) are presently only available in English but a Spanish edition will be available soon.

For more detail about the course, please visit our Participant information page

Three Flexible Options for Parishes/Dioceses

On-demand Course

Promote the BreakThrough on-demand course for spouses in distressed marriages to access all year round. You can apply for a 50% discount coupon which saves your community members money and provides feedback on the reach of your promotion.

Suggested website text here

BreakThrough Companion

Recruit couples, deacons and other lay ministers to train as BreakThrough Companions to accompany those in their local community. SmartLoving can provide training and resources and work with your existing personnel to find a solution that fits your organisation.

More info here

BreakThrough Workshop

Establish a team to run in-person BreakThrough workshops providing a group experience for Participants. SmartLoving provides resources for leaders including plug & play videos, printable handouts, hosting tips and promotional material.

Purchase BT Leader kit 

Ready to Refer Couples?

Your parish noticeboard and what you choose to advertise at the back of your Church could save a marriage. We have created the following advertsiing resources that can be printed by you locally and placed in a visible location so that couples can discover our trusted resources to support their marriage in difficult times.

Brochures for your Community to promote the BreakThrough online course

Your Website Can Be A Place for Marriage & Family

Life, marriage and family

Your website is the front door of your community. Often, the diocesan or parish website is the place a person first encounters your faith community seeking answers or help.

Would an engaged couple, a spouse in a difficult marriage, or a parent find what they need on your website?

With the SmartLoving suite of resources, you can easily and effectively link them to resources, information and support in marriage and family life. Copy and paste our suggested website copy or edit to create a tailored message.

SmartLoving can also create a custom landing page tailored to your diocese/parish. Find out more

BreakThrough Leader Briefing

Share this printable PDF with your leadership team to explore the ways BreakThrough can be used in your community.

LEADER INFO MOCKUP

Become a BreakThrough Companion

A Companion is a couple or a person who accompanies a Participant as they progress through the course. Their role is pastoral: to support, encourage, pray with, and help the Participant understand the concepts and apply the frameworks into their life. They are not a counsellor or therapist; they are more like a tutor and accountability partner.

Companions are willing to listen to spouses in distress and assist them in finding comfort and clarity in their difficult situation. They help Participants access deeper insights and get greater value from the course material. They accompany the Participant in bringing their pain and heartache to the Lord in prayer.

SLBT Companions may be any of the following:

  1. Minister - a couple, a deacon, religious or lay individual who has been formed for this role. These ministers are provided by local communities operating independently of SmartLoving.
  2. Counsellor or other professional who has directed the Participant to the course as part of their therapy. They operate independently of SmartLoving.
  3. SL Coach - an accredited SmartLoving Coach engaged by SL to provide coaching services to Participants for an additional fee.  

Participants use the online platform to access the course content at home. Each part takes 1 - 1.5 hours to complete and includes prayer, video input, and reflection activities. Over the following days the Participant observes their interactions with their spouse through the lens of what they have learned.

After each part is complete, the Participant meets with their Companion to unpack together what they have discovered. Meetings are about one hour in length and may take place in-person or via video/tele-conference. There are three parts, so most Participants with a Companion complete the BreakThrough program in 2-4 weeks.

The cost of meetings varies according to the individual Companion and the policy of the organisation providing them. 

  • A mature and active Christian faith.
  • A firm commitment to the power of prayer.
  • An empathetic, caring, unbiased attitude.
  • Attentive listening and appropriate responding skills.
  • Life experience in managing difficult relationships.
  • An understanding of Catholic teaching and the desire to live one’s own life accordingly.
  • An ongoing desire to deepen their personal spiritual life.

Companions may be married, single, religious or clergy. They may work in pairs or singly. Couple Companions provide both a masculine and feminine perspective and bring a sacramental witness to their ministry (which is an advantage but not essential).

Part 1: Trainee Companions initially experience BreakThrough as a Participant to become familiar with the course content. This may be via the on-demand online course (preferred), or as part of a group training workshop.

Part 2: Trainee Companions will then receive formation in:

  1. SmartLoving Accompaniment Principles
  2. Topic-by-topic meeting guidelines, analysis and tips
  3. Safeguarding, signposting, record keeping and other practical matters (as per the policy of their organisation).

This second part of the training may take place via a series of three webinars (allowing time to for trainee Companions to encounter the BreakThrough material between sessions), or in a one-day intensive training workshop.

Training Options:

  1. Fully Online Training: Online course participation interspersed with training webinars (3 x ~1.5 hours). Training webinars are held periodically by demand.

    In 2024 there will be training in February and May to register visit: www.smartloving.org/webinars 

  2. In-person Group Intensive Training: Part 1 in the morning (3 hours) followed by Part 2 in the afternoon (~4.5 hours). Talk to us about hosting your group training event. 

The SLBT Leader Package includes all the resources you need to run an in-person group workshop. This includes:

  • Plug and Play videos with pause points for Participant activities.
  • Comprehensive Leader notes, promotional material and hosting tips.
  • Printable Participant Notes (PDF) with rights to reproduce for groups.*

*As Participants in a live group experience do not require a login for the SLBT course, Leaders are required to log their participant numbers and make a royalty contribution (within their means) to support the SL apostolate at the conclusion of the course.

BreakThrough Leader & Companion Package

Digital Resources

Access to the SLBT on-demand course for the personal use of Companions and Leaders.

Topic by topic Companion tips in each online lesson (not visible to regular Participants)

Plug & Play videos for Leaders who wish to run a live workshop. Each of 3 parts has one video with ‘pause’ cues to allow Participants to complete the associated activity.

Access to group chat for peer support. (WhatsApp)

Training and in-service webinars.

Print Materials

Participant Notes (PDF) with printing permission for signed up Leaders. Participant Notes are also digital-enabled for typing and saving answers where printer facilities are limited.

Printable Companion Guide (PDF) for easy reference during meetings. The comprehensive Guide is also digital-enabled so that personal notes can be saved for use on a handheld device.

Support documentation including hosting suggestions, venue set up, promotional resources for live in-person workshops.

Companion Training

Check out the Events Calendar for our next scheduled training program.

Ready to Purchase?

BreakThrough Companion Leader Package

FOR VOLUNTEERS

If you are using the BreakThrough resource in a volunteer capacity you are eligible for the volunteer discount.

Read terms & conditions below for more info

FOR PROFESSIONALS

If you are using the BreakThrough resource in a professional capacity please pay full price.

Read terms & conditions below for more info

SmartLoving is a not profit organization. All funds raised support and sustain our ministry.

Terms and Conditions

The BreakThrough Leader resources are for use by one Companion/Leader (or married couple Companion) and are not transferable or shareable.

Purchase includes access for one year to the online Leader resources and membership must remain active for those who wish to continue to use the BreakThrough resources, including use of saved copies of the handouts or videos.

Membership can be renewed annually at nominal fee which supports our apostolate. Please watch for renewal notices in your inbox.

For those who have purchased the Volunteer membership at the discount rate (90% off), the materials may only be used in ministry with couples where the Companion/Leader is not receiving financial renumeration for the service. Volunteer membership may be upgraded at any time. Contact us [email protected] for assistance.

For organisational use with multiple Companions/Leaders, please purchase individual membership. Contact us: [email protected] for discounted options.

Claim a Unique Discount Coupon for your Organization

Support your community with a 50% discount on select courses and products.

Qualifying courses include: Newlywed, The Marriage Kit, BreakThroughFertility

To take advantage of this offer, complete the request form on the link below. Our ministry team will email an unique organization coupon code for you to share on your organisation website, in digital and print newsletters, email campaigns and flyers.

The coupon code is good for multiple purchases, but may not be used in conjunction with other coupons to compound discounts.

Coupon Code Request

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Organization's Address*
After we create a coupon code for you, which URL will it be placed on? E.g. https://www.stdeclansparish.org/smartloving-marriage-kit
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

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We're ready to collaborate with your community!

With a comprehensive suite of on-demand courses and leader kits, our partner packages can be customised to complement your existing resources. Many of our online courses can be used independently by the couple or spouse, or facilitated by a local leader in a group experience. With high-quality video production, interactive quizzes, couple activities and practical everyday tools, SmartLoving courses are engaging and effective.  

Book an obligation-free video consultation to discuss your custom solution today!

Or contact us via [email protected]

SmartLoving On-Demand Courses

Do you have gaps in your Marriage Catechumenate formation?

SmartLoving on-demand courses and programs equips leaders to journey with couples as they navigate the joys and challenges of Catholic marriage. Drawing on a wealth of research, experience, relationship science and theology, our suite of programs will provide you with a complete Marriage Catechumenate solution.

Used by thousands of couples throughout the world, SmartLoving is trusted by clergy across
the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain and many others.

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