Maintaining a strong relationship with your significant other takes a lot of time, effort and patience. Sometimes, that work needs a little boost from someone outside the relationship.
Here is where you can go in East Tennessee and apps you can download to help your relationship.
Programs in East Tennessee
UT Extension teaches classes dedicated to managing relationships. It offers support and programs for marriage preparation and co-parenting. You can contact your county's UT Extension office to figure out how to get started.
Healthy Connections Knoxville, formerly known as the Knoxville Marriage Initiative, is a nonprofit that offers relationship assistance to singles, engaged and married couples. Its goal is "growing strong, satisfying lifelong marriages." You can get help tailored to your relationship status.
It hosts workshops at different places around Knox County. Prices for workshops are around $100 for over 12 hours of assistance.
Practices all over East Tennessee offer couples therapy, but make sure to ask therapists about their training first. Some therapists offer couples therapy but do not have specific training for it. Helen Ross McNabb Center is one place that offers affordable therapy for couples seeking help.
Relationship expert Dr. Kristina Gordon also recommends marriage checkups for couples who are not in big distress. Gordon said this usually consists of two sessions lasting about an hour. They include a therapeutic assessment identifying what's going well, looking at the issues and coming up with solutions, according to Gordon. One place where you can get them is Healing Hearts Counseling.
Websites
Our Relationship offers online, self-help programs. Each program is designed to be completed in two months, taking about 7 to 8 hours.
The Gottman Institute has researched relationships since the 1970s. It has workshops, tools and services to help make your relationship stronger. Gordon recommends the free Marriage Minute newsletter.
You can find resources on family structure, health, relationship education, dynamics and couple stressors online from the National Healthy Marriage Resource Center.
Apps
At $11.99 per month, Lasting creates an individualized program to help you and your significant other build and maintain your relationship.
With ReGain, you can get support from a licensed therapist specializing in relationship counseling. The cost ranges from $35 to $70 per week for unlimited access to your counselor.
Are most of your fights over money and financial issues? Honeydue tracks your budget and spending. It can also help you coordinate bills.
Looking to get more organized and find time to spend together? Raft syncs and color codes schedules, so you can share your plans and make time for your partner. Simply Us has a shared calendar and to-do lists. Between can help you do this along with tracking important dates and storing memories from your relationship.
Love Nudge puts the concept of the five love languages to work. It helps couples be intentional and connect through differences.
If you're struggling with intimacy, there are even apps to help with that. Bliss is a game for couples to play that encourages romance and intimacy. Kindu offers over 1,000 sensual and romantic ideas to try if you seek to improve communication and intimacy in your relationship.
Gottman Card Decks is an app from the Gottman Institute that has 14 card decks with more than 1,000 flashcards with helpful questions, statements and ideas for improving your relationship.
If you want to know your partner better, you can answer questions about yourself, guess their answers and chat along the way with Couple Game. There's also Happy Couple, where you can quiz your partner and find out more about what they think or feel.