| Families and marriages in the Unites States (U.S.) have undergone significant changes within the last 20th century, which have included increased divorce rates, cohabitation, remarriages, and age at first marriage (Cherlin, 2009; Howe, 2012; Whitton et al., 2013). The U.S. has also experienced a rapid growth of the Latino population. Despite the increase of Latinos and Latino families, under-utilization of mental health services among Latinos has been reported (National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI], 2014), coupled with a lack of research on Latino couples. Given that a majority of Latinos share similar cultural values and have identified with Catholicism (Pew Hispanic Center, 2014), the present study sought to orient mental health professionals to utilizing faith-based marriage enrichment and education programs (i.e., Marriage Encounter, PREPARE/ENRICH, FOCCUS/REFOCCUS) as possible methods to overcoming under-utilization of mental health services, and also to provide a culturally sensitive treatment option in order to better serve Latino couples. |
