Experiment By Doctor In Marriage Guidance

Press, Volume C, Issue 29535, 9 June 1961, Page 20

Experiment By Doctor In Marriage Guidance

An experiment tn marriage guidance and sex education which, he claims, has led to a marked reduction in marital stress and divorce, is described by Dr C. H. Belton, of Nelson, in the “New Zealand Medical Journal." The experiment has been going on for eight years, says Dr. Belton. The programme at first covered only advice to those who came to him in his private practice, but five years ago he enlisted the support of the Protestant clergy and has since given lectures to various local organisations including especially men’s and women's church groups. “Most divorces, separations, and marital stress situations, and many neuroses, arise from failure to establish satisfactory sexual relations." says Dr. Belton. “If mutual sexual satisfaction is achieved in any marriage, that marriage will almost invariably remain a stable unit in society." Dr. Belton makes it a routine part of his practice to check on the marital adjustment of patients who come with a trouble which gives an opportunity to discuss the topic. He also tries, he says, to make parents aware of the necessity for giving “progressive sex education" to their children. One of the ways he does this is by the display of pamphlets on his waiting-room tables. “No attempt is made to separate anatomical and physiological information from information and instruction relating sex to civics, ethics, and morals,” he says. Parents’ Part “The parent whose sex adjustment is unsatisfactory will have most excuses for not playing his or her part in the sex education of children. Conversely, the parents whose adjustment is improved by counselling are most keen to advance their children's knowledge step by step, to prevent them from suffering the miseries resulting from abysmal ignorance “Much marital stress would obviously be avoided if ministers of religion provided sex education during thedr customary premarital counselling of candidates for marriage." Dr Belton says. Ministers' Counselling With this in view, he addressed the Nelson Ministers' Association on the subject, and there wo? general agreement to carry out his proposals. At that time fin early 1956! only one of the ministers was consistently providing the service suggested. Since then, a significan’ numbr of recently-married women had attributed satisfactory sex adjustment to helpful premarital counselling by their ministers. Dr Belton says. “One minister who either cou'd not overcome his excessive reticence, or else lost i his counselling books, gave I up his efforts to co-operate within six month* of hearing I the address. In the following I three years. I bad to deal ! with serious stress situations I in three marriages at which this minister had officiated. I He was faced with the facts 'about these cases, and has since become a more consistent premarital counsellor. "Aware that 15 per cent of marriages are performed by Roman Catholic clergy, and urged by three Roman Catholic wives whose unsatia*Mtocgr aex adjuattneata I

had needed to counsel, I interviewed the senior priest of the district. His sympathy was personally aroused, but he indicated that he was not in a position to introduce a policy without authority from his Church. “A similar approach was made to the Registrar of the Court, who conducts 20 per cent, of the marriages, but he was not even in a position to supply a list of recommended books to candidates until the Secretory of Justice issued an authority’ for this. “This anachronism of a Government department precluding marriage counselling, while within the same department is a recent-established Advisory Committee on Marriage Guidance, is surely unreasonable."