First – congratulations!!! This is such an exciting time for y’all. And for many couples, premarital counseling is way down on their list of priorities, but from our experience we think it should be one of the first things on the list. Many couples tend to focus on preparing for the wedding ceremony, all this attention often leads to disagreements, distance, and fear. As a couple who focuses on helping couples, we can help you make the most of your engagement, to help you grow closer to one another, to work as a team, and to enjoy each moment leading up to the big day as we prepare you for your new life together.
Preparing for Marriage
Premarital counseling is for engaged couples who want to ensure they have a strong, healthy relationship before they walk down the aisle. Premarital counseling can give you a better chance for a stable and satisfying marriage by helping you identify relational assets for building your life together as well as revealing the weaknesses that could become problems later down the road.
Our counselors use tools and assessments such as SYMBIS (Save Your Marriage Before It Starts) and Prepare-Enrich to help couples understand their personalities, money management preferences, communication styles, and the strengths and growth areas of their relationship.
Identifying and Targeting Your Customized Relationship Goals: The first session will explore your comfort levels with each other and how you work as a team. Together, you will teach the counselor about your relationship: how your relationship developed, the strengths of the relationship, your concerns for the future (if any), goals for your relationship based on the assessment as well as your own thoughts, etc. Your therapist will then begin to go over the assessment results with you (this will continue throughout the 3 sessions).
- Discuss Goals for the therapy
- Goals for your relationship
- Results of Test
- Growth and Problem Areas
Teaming up for Your Marriage and Your Future: Communication is key to a solid marriage. This session will address communication styles, patterns of communication, and ways to create a strong alliance with one another. You will work on staying on the same team as you address and resolve differences, and learn how to communicate effectively as a couple – even when you don’t agree.
- Communication Styles/Patterns
- Learn how to address and resolve differences
- Conflict Resolution: Such as struggling with the in-law, managing finances, parenting, roles of a wife/marriage, etc.
Tying the Knot: We want to make sure you feel very confident in your relationship when you say “I Do.” This relationship is about where you both have come from, where you are now, and what your future holds. With your counselor, you will work to have the tools to make this a strong relationship.
- Family of Origin Issue – How to handle the family
- Wedding Planning Stress and Managing it as a team
- Expectations of Marriage: Roles of one another
Note that this is typically what the layout of your 3 sessions will look like. However, your counselor will want to make sure your experience is catered specifically to you and your needs, so your 3 sessions may look a little different. Some couples want only 3 sessions to prepare for their future. Other couples extend the sessions and focus more specifically on a few items or continue the work to strengthen some of the skills you learn. You get to make your premarital counseling package work for you, just like your marriage.