Free Online Relationship Support Sessions for Naval Couples

Thanks to funding from Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity (RNRMC), Marriage Care is pleased to offer free support for your relationship, as part of RNRMC’s Strengthening Families programme.

Our online relationship support sessions are available for any couple or individual serving in the Royal Navy, Royal Marines or Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

This is an opportunity for you and your partner to spend some quality time together in a safe, relaxed, and confidential space. You can share as much or as little as you like, while exploring practical ways to build a stronger, more resilient relationship – especially in preparation for the challenges that come with the deployment cycle.

We believe that by creating space for you to talk about the unique pressures Naval service can place on your relationship – how and why stress can arise, and what can help – you, and your family, will feel more supported, strengthened, and better equipped to thrive.

We hope that this preventative opportunity may reduce the need for counselling. However, Marriage Care can also offer counselling should you wish or need to go deeper.

What to expect

The Relationship Sessions are online group sessions. 

Please note this is not counselling.

You can attend with your partner, or alone, should they be deployed or have other work commitments.

You will have the opportunity to look at many aspects of relationships, including communication styles, managing conflicts, and intimacy. There is also a session about the part the Navy plays in a relationship, and the impact of deployments. There will be discussions, and you will also have the chance to speak privately with your partner, if they are joining with you, or in a smaller group if you attend sessions alone.

The course dates are yet to be confirmed, however they will most likely be as below. We will notify those booked on of any changes as soon as we are aware of them. The sessions are held over 6 consecutive Mondays:

Series 1: April 13th, 20th, 27th, May 11th, 18th and June 1st (gaps due to Bank Holidays)

Series 2: July 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th, Aug 3rd and 10th

Series 3: Oct 12th, 19th, 26th, Nov 2nd, 9th and 16th

There are 6 sessions in each series. The series will be delivered three times through 2026, so each series is identical. This means that, if you have to miss a session in your chosen series, you may be able to catch up with it in a series at a later date.

All sessions will begin at 7.30pm. Most are around 1.5 hours in length, with one slightly longer one that is 1hr 50mins.

What you will need