6 Reasons to Consider Premarital Counseling
If you just got engaged, counseling is probably not on your mind as you focus more on wedding planning and merging lifestyles with your spouse. However, marriage counseling isn't only for troubled relationships. During premarital counseling, a therapist assists spouses in building solid foundations for marriage. Explore the benefits of premarital counseling below.
1. Improve Communication
As your counselor will tell you, positive communication is the bedrock of a successful marriage. People develop unique communication styles over time, which affect how you and your spouse interact daily. In many cases, spouses use counterproductive communication strategies during arguments that create discord.
During premarital counseling, you can acquire good communication skills to sustain productive conversations. You also learn your partner's communication style or how they receive, absorb, and share information. Lastly, you and your spouse build your listening skills so you can keep open lines of communication.
2. Identify Potential Conflicts
Premarital counseling covers many topics that could cause conflicts later in the marriage. Religion, money, parenting, and sex are common issues that lead to divorce, and counseling helps you discuss these issues beforehand.
Remember that you and your spouse have beliefs and core values that may affect your future lives. Even seemingly small things like how to deal with in-laws or how each person manages time can balloon into large conflicts. Emotions may arise when you discuss serious topics on your own, which is why a counselor is better placed to guide the process.
3. Get to Learn Your Spouse Better
When couples are heady with love, they can overlook some things that eventually emerge in marriage. Most issues that a counselor urges you to explore during counseling are topics you have likely not discussed in depth.
Even if you assume you know everything about your partner, you will be surprised at the discoveries you may make about their values and goals. The counselor encourages both parties to share things they have never discussed before, giving you new perspectives on your relationship.
The process also makes you decide if you are making the right choice. Premarital counselors ask many questions that uncover any red flags or deal-breakers.
4. Manage Expectations
Your understanding of the marriage commitment may differ from your partner's view, and a third party helps you understand each other's expectations. While most traditional societies had defined roles for each spouse, times have certainly changed. Today, progressive ideas affect how married people share household responsibilities.
During premarital counseling, you discover what your partner expects of you after marriage and share your expectations. This discussion is vital if you come from diverse backgrounds or wish to avoid surprises later on. Topics can range from how you make decisions, who does most of the household chores, and how each person's career affects how much time they spend with children.
5. Get a Third Party's Insight
Marriage is among the most emotional decisions anyone makes, and you may be unsure of how to ask critical questions. In most cases, engaged couples do not know they must establish boundaries, set expectations, and discuss past patterns before marriage. A counselor guides you through this process and creates a safe space to discuss critical issues without taking sides.
6. Prevent Divorce
Most couples who attend premarital counseling want to prevent divorce, as divorce statistics can be pretty alarming. Marriages end due to varied reasons, such as communication breakdown, financial incompatibility, and conflicts over responsibilities. Premarital counseling serves as an early intervention before these problems arise so you can set realistic expectations and boundaries.
At Heritage Mental Health Clinic, our goal is to assist couples in building the skills they need to enter a lifelong commitment.
Contact us today to explore our marital counseling services.