It is normal to wonder if you are really ready to make a life-long commitment. Brief premarital counseling can help you feel more confident or identify the issues you might want to resolve before the wedding day. Here’s what you can expect from me if you come to me asking for premarital couples counseling:
- A first session together where we talk about the history of your relationship. Common topics include:
- How you fell in love
- Recurring arguments, if any
- Howdo you resolve conflict
- In the second and third sessions, I meet with each of you alone to help me get to know you better. This is a wide-ranging assessment and conversation about your family of origin, education and employment history, medical history, and more. This helps me identify what you bring to the marriage that helps, and that might be a challenge.
- In the fourth (through a sixth session if needed), we review:
- The strengths in your relationship and how to maximize and maintain them over the long-term.
- Any sources of current or potential conflict and how to manage them.
- For example, if either of you has a mental health diagnosis, I’ll make recommendations for you about how to mitigate the effect of that diagnosis on your partner. And I’ll share with your partner how to best support you.
- How your family of origin might affect how you behave as a partner.
- Developmental tasks your marriage is likely to face as it grows.
- For example, if you’re planning to have children, I’ll outline some important developmental milestones you may encounter as you transition from lovers to parents.
If we identify areas where couples counseling can help, we’ll discuss whether you want to do that counseling with me or someone else. If you want to do that work with me, we can discuss what that counseling would include and how long it might take.
If you’re ready to do your due diligence before saying, “I do,” contact me to ask about brief premarital counseling today.