For couples that are engaged to be married, premarital counseling in the Bay Area is a great way to prepare for marriage. While most everyone understands what they're getting into with marriage, counseling can help codify the ideas and expectations on both sides, allowing for a healthier, more stable and satisfying marriage. Just like how counseling can help an individual organize their thoughts and concerns, premarital counseling -- also known as pre-marriage counseling -- can help identify potential issues before they become serious problems.
Why Engage in Premarital Counseling?
You might have the perfect relationship now, but premarital counseling is more about the future. Marriage is a big step, and different people have different expectations as to how a marriage works and what the rules are. Things like finances, communication as well as beliefs and values will inevitably come up in any marriage, and it's much better to talk these things out than to end up on opposing sides of an issue down the line.
Other topics such as spending time together, how you deal with disappointment and anger in the relationship, the decision-making process and the desire to have children are all important -- as are the roles that each of you expect from the other and how you see your own role. By communicating and setting realistic expectations up front, you and your partner will be establishing your expectations and working on your conflict-resolution skills.
In addition, premarital counseling for Bay Area couples can also help encourage discussion and a positive mindset of collaboration, not an antagonistic predisposition that can sabotage your marriage before you even get started.
Preparing for Premarital Counseling
While you may want to strategize and organize your thoughts and concerns prior to premarital counseling, the only thing you really need to do is book an appointment. Your therapist will walk you through the pertinent discussions and exercises -- just bring are yourselves and an open mind.
If you're still looking for the right therapist, it may help to schedule a quick consultation call or video chat where you and your partner can ask questions. In addition to finding out their qualifications, you'll want to talk with your prospective therapist about their experience and their approach, as well as the treatment plan, including the number of expected sessions and how much it'll all cost.
It's also important that you have a good rapport with your therapist, so if you're not clicking with someone, see if there's anyone else on staff that may be a better fit.
What To Expect With Premarital Counseling
Before any premarital counseling session in the Bay Area, you'll likely be asked to fill out some kind of questionnaire as a baseline. The questions are typically used to discover how each party feels about the other, as well as what your combined strengths and weaknesses are.
Early in the process, you'll go through these answers with your therapist to discuss your joint areas of agreement or disagreement. From there, your therapist will help you set shared goals that you and your partner can work on together during your time in therapy and beyond.
Premarital Counseling With Quick Results Counseling
Here at Quick Results Counseling, we believe that therapy is not some weekly rehash of the minutia of life. Our goal is to get you in, out and on with your life as quickly as possible with diverse, culturally sensitive therapy that arms you with the tools you need to progress. From premarital counseling in the Bay Area to individual counseling and more, contact us for a free 45 minute consultation call.