Premarital Counseling
As enjoyable as it is to help people come out of their relational pain, it’s even more fulfilling to help prevent that pain from happening in the first place. That’s why I’ve loved guiding couples through premarital counseling for over 35 years.
In 1995 I wrote the book What You Need to Now What You Need to Know Before You Fall in Love, (Thomas Nelson). This book naturally came about as a result from my comprehensive search of the psychological, sociological and theological databases for the most successful premarital programs.
While I customize my sessions to the unique needs of each couple, I typically recommend covering these bases as a solid foundation for your future together:
Taking the online relationship surveys Prepare-Enrich and SYMBIS
These are two of the most research validated premarital surveys available - they help to provide a more objective evaluation of a couple’s strengths and areas in which they need to grow.
Conducting relationship
interviews
You’ll examine the assets and baggage you carry from your families of origin and previous relationship experiences so you can build on your strengths, learning to identify and overcome unhealthy relational patterns
6 sessions of Communication & Conflict Resolution training
This is a major part of the preparation that has been proven through research to reduce relationship breakups by as much as 50%
Premarital counseling sessions are usually fun and enjoyable because they are helping people BEFORE trouble spots appear in the relationship.
My experience has shown that one of the major reasons marriages typically break up is due to one unresolved conflict being placed on another unresolved conflict, which is placed on another unresolved conflict, etc., etc. ad nauseam.
When this happens, the warm emotions typically associated with marriage tend to fade, if not die out all together. In the communication training sessions, couples are learning how to take out the garbage in their relationship before they’ve made much garbage. In addition, they learn words and actions that add to the positive side of their relational bank account. This has been shown to lead to greater relationship satisfaction years after the ceremony, retaining more of the “in love“ feelings that drew you together in the first place.
