Pre-Marital Counseling

Establish a strong foundation for your future together

Deciding to spend your life with someone is a huge commitment. Pre-marital counseling (or pre-engagement, pre-moving in together) can help you strengthen the foundation of your relationship as you step into this meaningful next chapter of life together.

Now that you have said “yes” to marrying the love of your life, you might be wondering -

  • How do we prepare ourselves individually and relationally for the commitment of marriage?
  • Are my expectations for marriage realistic?
  • How do we lay a strong foundation for our marriage?
  • What conversations should we have before getting married?
  • If we aren’t having issues in our relationship right now, is pre-marital counseling necessary?

Pre-Marital Counseling - Building Blocks for a Successful Future

Preparing for the big day with your significant other can be both exhilarating and exhausting. In the flurry of the planning, stress, and excitement, it can be easy to lose sight of what happens after the wedding. Pre-marital counseling is a great way to intentionally carve out time to set your relationship up for success and kick-start the ongoing work required to maintain a healthy marriage.

Pre-marital therapy is designed to help you develop and enhance communication tools for connection, increase awareness of how you cope during relationship distress, as well as help you identify aspects of your relationship that need to be discussed further to build a stronger foundation. In 8 hours of counseling (can be completed through weekly sessions or other, more intensive formats), a trained couples therapist will lead the way in helping you get to know yourself and the person you're about to marry on a deeper level, including:

  • How you both communicate
  • How your communication styles change in times of stress
  • Expectations each of you have for marriage
  • Life goals and values you may or may not share
  • Your strengths and growth areas as an individual and a spouse-to-be
  • Strengths and growth areas of your relationship

At the Kansas City Relationship Institute, LLC, we want to provide couples with useful insights and tools for the transition into marriage. The uniting of two people is also the joining of each partner’s backstory, personal beliefs, dreams, and values. Premarital counseling is a space for couples heading into marriage to explore each of these facets together and increase the level of openness around important topics that could become triggers for conflict later on.

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Is Pre-Marital Counseling Right for You and Your Partner?

During this exciting time in your life, it is important to build in time to continue investing in developing a healthy relationship. Pre-marital counseling is a great way to intentionally invest in becoming a better version of yourself as a partner and working on your relationship together as you get ready to take this next step.

Have you found yourself asking:

  • What kind of foundation is our relationship built on?
  • How will our relationship change over the years?
  • Am I bringing the best version of myself to this marriage?
  • How do I make sure I keep growing as an individual once I join my life with a partner?
  • How do we ensure we have the skills necessary to make it through tough times?
  • Does my partner make me want to grow as a person? As a couple?
  • Does my partner want to grow as a person? As a couple?

Pre-marital counseling can provide you and your partner increased confidence that you are well-equipped for tough times that may lie ahead. Too many couples wait until conflict or misunderstandings become overwhelming before they seek help—pre-marital counseling is a preventative approach that enables you to be proactive in preparing for tough times rather than reacting to relationship stress. Pre-marital counseling sessions can help you explore strength and growth areas as a couple and as individuals, which can kickstart the continued growth you will experience. Awareness of your growth areas and goals for improvement can set you up for success to deepen your love, passion, and friendship as the years pass together.

Premarital counseling with your partner

Your premarital counselor will help you and your partner delve into sensitive topics that will help you understand yourself and your partner on a more intimate level. The healthiest, happiest marriages are those where each partner feels confident approaching difficult topics calmly, curiously, and respectfully. These discussions can lead to increased understanding and intimacy, as well as a higher capacity to cope with relationship stressors in ways that bring you closer rather than drive you further apart. Your counselor will guide and coach you as you and your partner discuss important topics such as:

  • Finances
  • Sex
  • Political leanings
  • Religious beliefs
  • Family of origin
  • Past trauma
  • Personal insecurities and fears
  • Boundaries with in-laws and friends
  • Whether to have children, or how to co-parent if you already have kids

Your premarital counselor will also provide you with information about how long-term relationships tend to change across time - for better or for worse - and where you have power to advocate for the type of marriage that gets better with time. There are likely a number of ways that you and your partner are similar and different from each other - and this combination of your two unique personalities is why you fell in love. Your premarital counselor will work with you to understand how similarities or differences can become potential points of contention, and help you establish a dynamic that allows you to foster a relationship where you continually feel compatible not just in spite of your differences, but because of them.

How Premarital Counseling Works at the Kansas City Relationship Institute

At the Kansas City Relationship Institute, LLC, we offer an 8-hour pre-marital or pre-engagement program that is tailored to your relationship. Whether you have “talked about everything” or are just getting to know each other, our relationship experts can help you accentuate your strengths and further develop your areas of growth so that you can continue to build a relationship that not only lasts a lifetime, but also that continues to be fun, intimate, and supportive.

Rate

$699-$999 // 8-HOURS
* Pre-marital/pre-engagement counseling formats can vary depending on your schedule (8-Weekly 1- hour sessions, 4 weekly 2-hour sessions, etc.)

Pre-Marital counseling is a great way to lay the groundwork for a strong relationship. In addition to pre-marital counseling, we offer a variety of counseling options:

    • Couples Counseling Intensives - to help jumpstart the marriage or couples counseling process or provide a strong dose of marriage and couples counseling to get you and your relationship back on track.
    • Couples Retreats – an opportunity to dedicate time to focus on your relationship where you can get away from life’s demands and reconnect with your partner.
    • Couples and Marriage Counseling – strengthen and rebuild your relationship or gain confidence and clarity about your future.
    • Individual Counseling – a supportive space to help you overcome the roadblocks holding you back.

    Contact us to further discuss what premarital counseling looks like for you and your partner. We can walk you through the different options that we offer to make sure you and your partner know what is best for you.