7 Benefits of Premarital Counseling
Congratulations on your engagement! Getting engaged can be one of the happiest times in your life together, from planning the ceremony you’ve dreamt of to the excitement that comes knowing you’re going to spend your life with someone you really love. For many couples preparing for the big day, premarital counseling may not be at the top of your to-do list, but it is something worth thinking about. As divorce rates continue to remain quite high, premarital counseling can help you and your partner prepare for marriage and develop a strong foundation for a healthy and fulfilling relationship and life together.
Prepare/Enrich is one of the most well known, evidence based premarital assessments and frameworks used today. It utilizes measurable scales to assess your relationship health and is based on Systems theory, which integrates concepts and principles from Marriage and Family therapy, and prevention-oriented approaches. As a trained Prepare/Enrich facilitator, I have helped couples further explore strength and growth areas, strengthen communication skills and identify and manage major stressors while preparing, not only for the Big Day, but for a lifelong commitment and future together.
Here are 7 benefits of premarital counseling utilizing the Prepare/Enrich assessment:
1. Premarital counseling can help enhance your communication skills:
Premarital counseling provides a safe and structured environment for you to learn and practice effective communication techniques. Together, you will learn effective ways to express their thoughts, emotions, and needs more openly and honestly, which can prevent misunderstandings and conflicts in the future.
Utilizing the Prepare/Enrich premarital framework, you will be able to objectively measure how both you and your partner feel about the quality and quantity of communication in the relationship. Together, you can expect to build communication skills in the following areas: Assertiveness and Active Listening, improving daily dialogue around the relationship and increasing intimacy through positive communication.
2. Premarital Counseling can help in resolving conflicts:
Premarital counseling offers guidance in identifying and addressing potential areas of conflict early on in this new stage of their relationship. Through guided discussions and problem-solving exercises, you can learn how to navigate disagreements, find compromise, and develop healthy conflict resolution skills. This can help prevent major conflicts from escalating into serious issues later on in the marriage.
The Prepare/Enrich assessment and framework allows for you to gain more understanding of both yours and your partner's individual levels of stress and offers you a better understanding of you and your partner’s ability to discuss and resolve differences and explore how you share opinions, ideas and feelings during times of conflict. You can expect to be given concrete steps on how to resolve conflict effectively, including the benefits of time outs and seeking and offering forgiveness. For many premarital couples, this also includes exploring the stress of planning a wedding and learning how to navigate this specific type of stress with helpful tools.
3. Premarital Counseling can help you better understand relationship expectations and values:
Premarital counseling encourages couples to explore and discuss their individual expectations, values, and goals for the marriage. Through the process, you can better understand each other's perspectives and develop a shared vision for their future together. This process can prevent unrealistic expectations and uncover any significant differences that may need to be addressed and resolved before the big day.
The Prepare/Enrich assessment and framework can give you and your partner more insight into the various expectations and values that you each hold around finances, family and parenting, spirituality and beliefs, relationship roles and intimacy.
4. Premarital Counseling can help strengthen relationship commitment:
Through premarital counseling, you will have an opportunity to deepen your commitment to each other. The process of openly discussing important topics and working through challenges together can build trust and increase your confidence in your compatibility and readiness for marriage.
The Prepare/Enrich assesses for commitment using a scale that measures each person’s commitment level and their perception of their partner’s commitment level.
5. Premarital Counseling can help identify strengths and areas for growth in your relationship:
Premarital counseling helps couples recognize their strengths as individuals and as a couple. It also highlights areas for growth and improvement. By gaining insights into your relationship dynamics and areas that may require attention, you can proactively work on strengthening your relationship before entering into marriage.
The Prepare/Enrich assessment offers a concrete way to measure strength and growth in areas including communication, conflict resolution, partner style and habits, financial management, leisure activities, sexuality and affection, family and friends, relationship roles, children and parenting and spiritual beliefs. Prepare/Enrich also categorizes couple relationships in five empirically-backed common patterns: Vitalized, Harmonious, Conventional, Conflicted and Devitalized. Getting a better understanding of your relationship patterns and dynamics can also give you insight into potential areas of growth as well as strength areas to celebrate and build on!
6. Premarital Counseling help you build problem-solving and coping skills:
Premarital counseling equips couples with essential problem-solving and coping skills that can help them navigate the inevitable ups and downs of married life. You will learn strategies for handling stress, managing emotions, and making decisions as a team. These skills are valuable tools for maintaining a healthy and resilient relationship throughout your life together!
Prepare/Enrich offers opportunities to not only gauge more understanding of the problems and stressors you may be experiencing both as individuals and within your relationship, but can also help you each assess ability to control or change the situation, and ways of staying connected to each other as you identify and discuss healthy ways to cope.
7. Premarital Counseling may correlate with a decreased likelihood of divorce:
Research suggests that couples who engage in premarital counseling have a lower likelihood of divorce compared to those who do not. By addressing potential issues early on, you can proactively work towards building a stronger foundation for your marriage, increasing the chances of long-term success.
For many couples, premarital counseling can be a solid, helpful part of preparing for your marriage and life together. Many couples have found premarital counseling helps to set a strong foundation and precedent in their future together. I can help you and your partner prepare for marriage and develop a strong foundation for a healthy and fulfilling relationship and life together!