Premarital · couples
The conversations worth having before, not after.
Premarital counselling for couples across Maryland, by secure video. Sessions of 75 minutes, in English or French.
Most couples arriving for premarital work are not in difficulty. They are in agreement, and want to find out where that agreement is real and where it has simply never been tested.
The subjects that cause the most trouble later are rarely secret. They are usually just assumed, by both people, in slightly different versions.
What gets covered
Money, and what each of you learned about it before meeting. Children, or not, and on what timescale. Careers and whose moves take precedence. Extended family, obligation, and where the boundary sits.
Also faith and practice, how conflict was handled in each of your childhood homes, and what each of you privately expects marriage to change.
How it works
The structure draws on the Gottman method, which is built on several decades of research into what actually predicts how partnerships fare over time, and which is unusually concrete about conflict and repair.
You will be given real subjects to work through together between sessions, and the sessions are used for the parts that turn out to be harder than expected.
A few markers before you get in touch.
For couples across two cultures or two languages
Where partners come from different countries, faiths or first languages, the assumptions being compared are further apart, and the areas of unexamined agreement are usually larger.
Sessions can run in English, in French, or across both, which matters when one partner would otherwise be negotiating their own marriage at a disadvantage.
The practical frame
Couples sessions are 75 minutes at $280, by secure video, with both partners physically in Maryland at the time. Cancelling inside 24 hours is billed at $130.
Enquiries are answered within 24 to 48 hours. This is counselling, not a religious or legal marriage preparation requirement.
Is this a fit?
Is this the right fit?
A few markers before you get in touch.
You'll likely get the most from this work if you are:
- Engaged and committing couples across Maryland
- Cross-cultural and bilingual couples
- Couples blending existing families
The work asks for:
- Both partners attending
- Willingness to raise the subjects you have been avoiding
- Work between sessions
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