Nick Gulliford - Introduction to "Affinities" FOCCUS Scoring Centre, Quel Bec Cothelstone, TAUNTON Somerset, UK TA4 3ED Telephone +44 1823 432420 Email nickgulliford@affinities.org.uk

"Affinities" is: 'for people with a felt need to learn ¹ more about themselves and their relationships through research-based psychometric inventories and interactive learning'. I very much hope that among the pages at this web site you will find something useful to you or to someone you know. My sister, Anne Blunt, suggested the name "Affinities". The site ² provides ready access to products and services that have been created by researchers in this field and for whose work we are indebted. We are also indebted to the FOCCUS Facilitators and agencies around the country who have brought FOCCUS and REFOCCUS to the attention of couples, clergy, and Registrars in England and Wales, and to many people in the US, Australia and elsewhere who have informed our understanding of the practical use of psychometric inventories and interactive learning programmes.

We at "Affinities" believe that: the notion that what is required of us is merely to do what we happen to regard as our duty is disastrous ³.

At times we are unaware of our own and the true feelings of others. Research-based psychometric inventories can help us to become more aware of these, and our values, beliefs, and attitudes, and of those of significant others. Interactive learning programmes can help us to develop the skills to express our true feelings and to negotiate changes and improvements in our relationships with people who are important to us.

Much that is most evil in the world, and from which we most need to be delivered, consists in and arises from habits of mind or an outlook on life which is taken for granted by those who share it. The things most wrong with a man are often those of which he is least conscious. The notion that what is required of us is merely to do what we happen to regard as our duty is disastrous. The primary duty of the individual is to try to find out what his duty really is ³.

Learning how to fulfil this 'primary duty' is a lifelong responsibility. Most of us need to be stimulated to do it at some stage in our lives. Not everyone has ready access to professionals - who might help - nor can everyone afford their fees. "Affinities" provides resources that can be used in conjunction with lay facilitators, mentors, professionals, and family members. However, most of the resources accessible here can be used cost effectively on their own at home by individuals, couples, and families, either directly through this site or in conjunction with a church, a school, a local Community Family Trust or some other agency:

1. DreamEZ - an interactive programme for recording and analysing dreams. It has been created by Dan Burns ⁴ of Bardstone Associates in conjunction with "Affinities". More information about DEZ and how it can be downloaded from this site is available by clicking here. Users of DEZ may - if they wish, and by arrangement - e-mail dream dialogues to David Jenkins ⁵ of Practical Dreamwork for professional comment/discussion.
2. The Personality Profiler [ORA-PP] is an inventory for adults created by Dr John Golden ⁶ and colleagues at Organisation Renewal Associates. Research has shown that 'personality issues' are a good predictor of marital outcomes, so ORA-PP is especially useful for couples and families, though it is also widely used in team building in organisations, and in choosing careers. Each month one site in the US attracts around 6,000 users considering alternative university courses.
3. The Student Personality Profiler is useful in schools and colleges as well as in families. It is a version of the ORA Personality Profiler for the student community. It advances beyond the limitations of other Jungian-based type assessments which provide nothing more than the standard four-letter personality type. The Profiler provides a comprehensive analysis of not only Psychological Type, but also Temperament, Trait, and the Five-Factor Model of Personality, all in one assessment.
4. The Values Arrangement List [VAL] is also an ORA product. VAL is the only comprehensive online survey to accurately measure personal values. The VAL report is a crucial first step in understanding our personal values. The VAL survey helps people to understand how their values can be used to improve the quality of their decisions, build healthy relationships and direct effective career and life plans.
5. VAL for Teens is a version of the Values Arrangement List that has been tailored to the needs of teenagers and is the only comprehensive online survey to measure personal values accurately for this age group. This is just as well, as an OFSTED [Office for Standards in Education] report for the UK Government in 2002 on Sex and Relationships ⁷ education in schools had as its top recommendation 'schools should broaden their coverage and their definition of achievement in SRE to include the development of pupils' values and attitudes and personal skills, as well as the acquisition of factual knowledge' [page 33].
6. FOCCUS - Facilitating Open Couple Communication Understanding & Study is a psychometric inventory for couples considering marriage and in the first two years of marriage. FOCCUS was developed by colleagues ¹ at the Archdiocese of Omaha and at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska. Through a facilitator FOCCUS can be taken online or manually by clicking here for a list of facilitators sorted by Local Authority Area, by County/Region, and alphabetically. To read a summary of the research background to FOCCUS, please click here.
7. REFOCCUS is another research-based inventory for established couples and may be taken online or manually by couples in their own home or in conjunction with a marriage enhancement programme of several sessions or a weekend retreat. For more details click here.

Notes :

1. The Family Life Office/FOCCUS Inc, Archdiocese of Omaha, and the Centre for Marriage and Family Life, Creighton University, Nebraska.
2. Developed by Pyleigh Systems.
3. Doctrine in the Church of England, the Report of the Commission on Christian Doctrine appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York 1938. This doctrine is quoted by Toni Wolf - who worked closely with Professor Dr.C.G. Jung - in a Guild of Pastoral Psychology pamphlet 'Christianity Within', based on a lecture to the Guild delivered by her in 1946.
4. Dan E Burns Ph.D.- President, Bardstone Associates, creator of 'Thoughtline' The Intelligent Writer's Companion™ and its successor Write EZ.
5. David Jenkins Ph.D.
6. John Golden Ed.D
7. A report from the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools - This OFSTED [Office for Standards in Education] Report on Sex and Relationships also commended the A PAUSE programme of Dr John Tripp ⁸.
8. John Tripp BSc, MD, FRCP, FRCPCH Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Child Health, University of Exeter, Consultant Paediatrician of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust. John Tripp is a member of the Research and Evaluation Group of the Association of Community Family Trusts. Members of this group ⁹ and the University of Exeter are conducting research on the use of FOCCUS that has been funded by the MARS [Marriage and Relationship Support] branch of The Lord Chancellor's Department, now part ot the DfES.
9. Carole Burgoyne Ph.D.

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