| Is Premarital Counseling for You? |
The short answer is a resounding YES. Getting married without pre-marriage prep is like starting a business or any
important venture without preparing. Half of all marriages end in divorce, and only half of those that endure are truly
happy in the long run. Many happy engaged couples assume that they won't be contributing to these statistics. But, if
you just wing it and count on your luck to make your marriage a success, your odds are only one in four. There is another
way.
Most couples just don't realize that good, skill-based pre-marriage counseling or classes can reduce the risk of divorce by
up to thirty percent and lead to a significantly happier marriage, according to marriage research. It can also reduce the
stress of the pre-wedding period. Just a little effort now can make your odds a whole lot better over the long run. You
want to do everything you can to ensure that your dreams of a great marriage and a great life are realized.
Pre-marriage preparation is based on the reality that it's important to strengthen your relationship and prepare
constructively for future challenges and conflicts that everyone will inevitably face at some point in their marriage, now
while you have so much fresh positive energy in your relationship. Don't stick your head in the sand. The research shows
that there is a window of opportunity during the year before the wedding and the six months or so after when couples get
the optimum benefit from marriage preparation. Later, under stress, negative habits and relationship patterns may become
established and be much harder to resolve.
Couples now face more demands and have fewer supports than ever before. The typical complex marriage - managing two
careers while rearing children - really requires that couples have very strong, well-established abilities to communicate,
resolve issues, maintain mutuality and set goals. Without this foundation, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by stress and time
pressures. Problems can intrude much more easily than most couples realize. As much as it's important to come to terms
with unrealistically positive expectations, those who grew up with divorced or unhappily married parents may find that
they have unacknowledged and unexplored expectations that their marriage, too, may become unhappy. Marriage
preparation functions as an immunization that boosts your capacity to handle potential difficulties. Couples need every
advantage to succeed in today's marriages.
What Is Pre-Marriage Preparation and Counseling?
Most commonly, those couples who do receive some premarital counseling get it from their religious adviser. This can
range from one or two meetings to an extended series of sessions. Sometimes an assessment inventory and skills training
are included, often they are not. Non-religious professional counselors also provide premarital counseling services. Again,
the content and amount of service depends on the orientation of the counselor and what you ask for. Often it doesn't cover
all the preparation that couples need.
Marriage preparation classes or workshops are an alternative or supplementary approach to educating engaged couples and
newlyweds in the skills, habits, attitudes, and enrichment techniques that research shows lead to happy, enduring
marriages. Such marriage preparation programs, are education, not therapy. Like premarital counseling, some of these
classes have religious sponsors while others are secular. You might consider them in many ways analogous to career
counseling. They address the normal issues and challenges that all couples face in the course of their marriage. Some people
think that marriage preparation is well on the way to becoming as commonplace as driver's training or test preparation.
Susan Piver's, The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say I Do is on the bestseller list. A
marriage prep program can give couples the benefit of a supportive environment and framework in which to ask these
questions and some skills to deal with the answers.
Whatever marriage prep couples choose - religion-based or religion-neutral, counseling or class -- should include activities
to give them real skills, real expectations and real knowledge of self and partner to face the inevitable challenges of a
committed relationship.
What to Look For in Pre-Marriage Programs and Counselors
Here's a concise list of seven relationship skill and knowledge areas that research has shown to contribute to the success
and endurance of marriage:
· Compatibility
· Expectations
· Personalities and families-of-origin
· Communication
· Conflict resolution
· Intimacy and sexuality
· Long-term goals
Make sure that the pre-marriage counseling or prep you choose covers all of these. Here are some questions to help you
select the pre-marriage prep that's right for you:
· Does it include an assessment inventory to help you understand your areas of compatibility and strength, as well as areas
you may need to address?
· How many couples will attend the class or workshop? A small group setting is higher quality, more engaging and
individualized than large classes. On the other hand, it can also be more comprehensive, systematic and skill-based than
most pastoral or couples counseling. A group experience can also be more involving and stimulating than individual
counseling.
· Does the program focus specifically on the needs of engaged couples and newlyweds? Some marriage skills programs mix
troubled couples from later stages of marriage in the same class. This can detract from the experience for engaged couples
and newlyweds.
· Is the class or counseling approach flexible enough to allow for your relationship and learning style or is it a
one-size-fits-all program? It's best to practice specific communication, conflict resolution and goal-setting skills and
strategies, and then select those skills and strategies that are most congruent with your relationship style and best meet
your needs.
· Is the content based on marriage research?
· Will the counseling or class help you and your partner agree on goals and strategies for managing and continuing to work
on your most important unresolved issues?
The answers to these questions will help you approach selecting your premarital classes and counseling as an educated
consumer.
If a couple's premarital counseling with a religious advisor or lay professional does not address some important areas, the
couple should think about supplementing with a program that does. Many couples use marriage prep and counseling in
combination, covering the foundation issues and skills in a class or workshop, then focusing on religious or other special
issues in their counseling.
important venture without preparing. Half of all marriages end in divorce, and only half of those that endure are truly
happy in the long run. Many happy engaged couples assume that they won't be contributing to these statistics. But, if
you just wing it and count on your luck to make your marriage a success, your odds are only one in four. There is another
way.
Most couples just don't realize that good, skill-based pre-marriage counseling or classes can reduce the risk of divorce by
up to thirty percent and lead to a significantly happier marriage, according to marriage research. It can also reduce the
stress of the pre-wedding period. Just a little effort now can make your odds a whole lot better over the long run. You
want to do everything you can to ensure that your dreams of a great marriage and a great life are realized.
Pre-marriage preparation is based on the reality that it's important to strengthen your relationship and prepare
constructively for future challenges and conflicts that everyone will inevitably face at some point in their marriage, now
while you have so much fresh positive energy in your relationship. Don't stick your head in the sand. The research shows
that there is a window of opportunity during the year before the wedding and the six months or so after when couples get
the optimum benefit from marriage preparation. Later, under stress, negative habits and relationship patterns may become
established and be much harder to resolve.
Couples now face more demands and have fewer supports than ever before. The typical complex marriage - managing two
careers while rearing children - really requires that couples have very strong, well-established abilities to communicate,
resolve issues, maintain mutuality and set goals. Without this foundation, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by stress and time
pressures. Problems can intrude much more easily than most couples realize. As much as it's important to come to terms
with unrealistically positive expectations, those who grew up with divorced or unhappily married parents may find that
they have unacknowledged and unexplored expectations that their marriage, too, may become unhappy. Marriage
preparation functions as an immunization that boosts your capacity to handle potential difficulties. Couples need every
advantage to succeed in today's marriages.
What Is Pre-Marriage Preparation and Counseling?
Most commonly, those couples who do receive some premarital counseling get it from their religious adviser. This can
range from one or two meetings to an extended series of sessions. Sometimes an assessment inventory and skills training
are included, often they are not. Non-religious professional counselors also provide premarital counseling services. Again,
the content and amount of service depends on the orientation of the counselor and what you ask for. Often it doesn't cover
all the preparation that couples need.
Marriage preparation classes or workshops are an alternative or supplementary approach to educating engaged couples and
newlyweds in the skills, habits, attitudes, and enrichment techniques that research shows lead to happy, enduring
marriages. Such marriage preparation programs, are education, not therapy. Like premarital counseling, some of these
classes have religious sponsors while others are secular. You might consider them in many ways analogous to career
counseling. They address the normal issues and challenges that all couples face in the course of their marriage. Some people
think that marriage preparation is well on the way to becoming as commonplace as driver's training or test preparation.
Susan Piver's, The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say I Do is on the bestseller list. A
marriage prep program can give couples the benefit of a supportive environment and framework in which to ask these
questions and some skills to deal with the answers.
Whatever marriage prep couples choose - religion-based or religion-neutral, counseling or class -- should include activities
to give them real skills, real expectations and real knowledge of self and partner to face the inevitable challenges of a
committed relationship.
What to Look For in Pre-Marriage Programs and Counselors
Here's a concise list of seven relationship skill and knowledge areas that research has shown to contribute to the success
and endurance of marriage:
· Compatibility
· Expectations
· Personalities and families-of-origin
· Communication
· Conflict resolution
· Intimacy and sexuality
· Long-term goals
Make sure that the pre-marriage counseling or prep you choose covers all of these. Here are some questions to help you
select the pre-marriage prep that's right for you:
· Does it include an assessment inventory to help you understand your areas of compatibility and strength, as well as areas
you may need to address?
· How many couples will attend the class or workshop? A small group setting is higher quality, more engaging and
individualized than large classes. On the other hand, it can also be more comprehensive, systematic and skill-based than
most pastoral or couples counseling. A group experience can also be more involving and stimulating than individual
counseling.
· Does the program focus specifically on the needs of engaged couples and newlyweds? Some marriage skills programs mix
troubled couples from later stages of marriage in the same class. This can detract from the experience for engaged couples
and newlyweds.
· Is the class or counseling approach flexible enough to allow for your relationship and learning style or is it a
one-size-fits-all program? It's best to practice specific communication, conflict resolution and goal-setting skills and
strategies, and then select those skills and strategies that are most congruent with your relationship style and best meet
your needs.
· Is the content based on marriage research?
· Will the counseling or class help you and your partner agree on goals and strategies for managing and continuing to work
on your most important unresolved issues?
The answers to these questions will help you approach selecting your premarital classes and counseling as an educated
consumer.
If a couple's premarital counseling with a religious advisor or lay professional does not address some important areas, the
couple should think about supplementing with a program that does. Many couples use marriage prep and counseling in
combination, covering the foundation issues and skills in a class or workshop, then focusing on religious or other special
issues in their counseling.
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| DG&F Wedding Consulting |