Premarital Counseling:
Set Yourself Up For Success
You're preparing for your wedding and have a million and one things to think about--the wedding, the dress, the flowers, the guest list, the honeymoon, the first house--it's endless, and exciting! But are you preparing for the wedding, and not your marriage?
Often what is overlooked in the first bloom of that decision is how to build a solid foundation for a lasting relationship.
You knew when you decided to get married that you like each other and want to spend your lives together. But I've seen it time and time again: couples who are so exhilarated and in love at first end up in a therapist's office a few years later with their arms crossed, sitting at the far ends of the couch and feeling totally at odds with one another. The devil is in the details.
We enter into relationship with a certain set of expectations and assumptions that are formed by what we witnessed growing up and how we were raised. Often these experiences form a baseline of reality and we assume that our partner thinks and feels the same way as we do, only to find out that they have a completely different set of experiences and assumptions. So much of marital conflict starts over the smallest differences.
Studies show that couples who go through premarital counseling are far more successful in the long term health of their marriages than couples who do not.
The goals of premarital counseling:
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Openly bring your assumptions and expectations to the table. Now is the time to hash things out.
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Discuss the hot button issues, topics which most often cause conflict and division:
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Expectations
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Children
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Money
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Sex
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and much more
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Reconcile and come to terms with any areas that you do not align on before you make the big commitment.
Using Prepare/Enrich, we will cover all of these topics and more, ensuring that you have had these important conversations and can enter into your marriage with a greater peace of mind.