Pre-Marriage Counseling - a Smart Choice
It is becoming more common for young couples to seek the aid our couples counseling before getting married for a number of reasons. Some may being seeing certain trends developing that they want to address before living together, when it may be more difficult. Others choose pre-marriage counseling as a way to check in with one another, either about the upcoming wedding and the many stessors they may be experiencing or just to feel grounded and connected beforehand.
Newer couples are becoming aware of the importance of good communication skills, for instance. Even two people who think they are doing perfectly fine in this arena may be in need of some lessons.
Tara and Tom were preparing for their June wedding when they came to see a marriage counselor in March. Both felt very “equipped” to handle the stress of the wedding but when Tom suddenly lost his job, both were concerned about the impact it would have on the wedding and more importantly, the two of them.
Tom had needed to express his anxiety around losing his job without fearing the loss of Tara or her support. It took him some time to get to the heart of the matter: that he was feeling useless and that somehow he had failed by losing his job.
Tara had no problem reassuring him and both of them utilized several sessions to simply discuss the ways of cutting back expenses. (Often financial strain can be a major factor in marital problems.)
After 7 sessions, they both felt like they were more “on the same page” and could navigate the tricky financial issues they would soon endure.
