Friendship, Love, and Service in Marriage: An Online Course in June 2026

Susanne Alexander, a marriage educator, coach and founder of Marriage Transformation, has spearheaded an online course on friendship, love and service in marriage that is being offered by the Transformation Learning Center. While the course is open to everyone, it will be held in the evenings in Australian Eastern time and it will be co-facilitated by Ferishteh and Rajaee Rouhani, a married couple based in Melbourne.

Susanne, Ferishteh and Rajaee graciously agreed to tell us more about this course which starts very soon!

Can you please tell us about this course?

Transformation Learning Center is excited to offer married and engaged couples the opportunity to:

Nurture the strength of their marriage unions
Focus on building friendship skills
Deepen feelings of love
Carry out service to each other, as well as in the wider community

Individuals in a marriage or serious relationship are also welcome if their partner is not enrolled in the course. The course materials draw on the teachings of the Baha’i Faith and the work of people in the field of marriage. The facilitators are based in Australia, but people all over the world who can attend at the announced time are welcome.

The course runs from June 7-28, 202 and sessions will be held on Sunday evenings from 8-10 p.m. (Australian Eastern Standard time).

You can register by visiting Transformationlearningcenter.com.

How does the course work?

The registered learners meet with the facilitators, an experienced married couple, for an initial online session with introductions and goal setting. Then they study the materials for a week and come back together online to discuss how to apply the content in their lives. The commitment is for four weeks.

What is the ideal audience for the course?

This course is a learning experience for couples who desire to grow, enhance, or refresh their relationship and to collaboratively apply spiritual and scientific information to stay together for the long term. This is not a course for couples in crisis or needing therapy. Anyone interested in the topic is welcome to participate; it’s not just for Baha’is.

What can participants expect to take away from the course?

Learners gain greater confidence in each other and in their marriage, and they feel encouraged to continue strengthening it. They gain practical tools, spiritual insights, and a supportive group of peers.

Who are the course facilitators?

Ferishteh and Rajaee Rouhani have been married for nine years and are the parents of two young children, Thomas (7) and Howard (3). Their lives have been shaped by diverse cultural and geographic experiences. Ferishteh spent many years in India and the United Kingdom before making Melbourne her home in 2019. Rajaee, born in Jordan and raised in Perth has likewise lived and worked across regions, including the Middle East and London—where they first met and began their shared journey of marriage.

Ferishteh and Rajaee, how did you come to facilitate this course?

This opportunity has felt both unexpected and deeply aligned. The invitation came from Susanne Alexander after our contributions as members of the advance reading team for two of her upcoming books. Although it seemed to arise suddenly, it also resonated with conversations we have shared over several years about serving in this space. We are approaching this new path with gratitude, humility, and recognition of its timeliness in our lives.

What aspects of facilitating this course are you most excited about?

We are excited to accompany and learn from others as we explore the deeper dimensions of marriage. There is something profoundly meaningful about creating a space where diverse couples and individuals can reflect on the spiritual principles that sustain unity, strengthen relationships, and nurture a shared sense of purpose.

We look forward to the spirit of consultation that such a space can foster—where diverse experiences and insights are shared openly and learning becomes a collective process. These moments of genuine exchange lead to clarity and connection, reminding us that we are all on a path of learning and growth.

What do you bring to the participants that will be important for them to know about you?

We bring a sincere commitment to learning, growth, and striving. Our journey has been one of ongoing discovery—shaped by both joyful moments and challenges that have called us to deepen our understanding, patience, and capacity to consult together. We are not experts in this area—we are simply excited to walk this path together.

We hope participants will know that we approach this role with humility and openness. We are not here to offer perfect answers, but to help create a space where meaningful conversations can unfold, where questions are welcomed, and where each person’s experience is valued.

We believe in the potential within every relationship to grow stronger through conscious effort and spiritual orientation. Our intention is to foster an environment that feels safe, respectful, and encouraging, where participants can reflect honestly and feel supported in their own paths.

Thank you all for taking the time to tell us about this course!

You can register for the “Friendship, Love and Service in Marriage” online course by visiting LearningTranformationCenter.com!

Posted by

Sonjel Vreeland

In her innermost heart, Sonjel is a stay-at-home parent and a bookworm with a maxed out library card but professionally she is a museologist with a background in English Literature. She currently lives on Prince Edward Island, an isle in the shape of a smile on the eastern Canadian coast. Sonjel is a writer who loves to listen to jazz when she's driving at night.