Whether you take one of our premarital counseling packages, where you get to meet one-on-one with an online relationship therapist or you sign up for our online premarital course, here is what you can expect to learn and why this is important for your marriage.

Some of the common topics you will discuss in premarital counseling include:

• Finances (more related to expectations, not actual financial planning)
• Sex
• Division of labor in your home
• Expectations
• Managing conflict
• Children
• And setting boundaries with friends and family

In addition to discussing these topics, you will also learn the following in tandem. The reason for this is because we want to ensure that our couples are educated in how to manage emotions that may be occurring behind the scenes of such important topics. This is what couples can expect to learn.

Understanding heart and brain connection

You will learn why it can sometimes be difficult to say “the right thing” when you are under stress or why sometimes people say “I said that when I was mad, it doesn’t count.” Understanding why this occurs and learning how it plays a role in your relationship will help you understand the importance of engaging in self-care activities and taking care of yourself.

Learning self-care

One of the first things that you and your partner will learn is the importance of taking care of you. Of course, premarital counseling will focus on the relationship, but it becomes very challenging to discuss challenging topics, if you yourself do not have realistic coping strategies.

When learning about self-care, you will learn how your body responds physiologically to stress and how this impacts how you respond to your partner. You will also learn how your emotions, thoughts, and actions impact your ability to communicate effectively with your partner. Having a solid understanding of this will set you and your partner up for success for whenever you may need to have a challenging conversation.

In addition, you will also have a chance to discuss expectations related to

• Spirituality
• Physical Activity
• Nutrition
• Sleep
• Sexual Intimacy and how to maintain passion
• Setting healthy boundaries

Whether it is learning how to set a healthy expectation of each other or ensuring that your relationship (and your partner) is kept a priority, it is important to have a conversation of what this will realistically look like. Of course, you know your relationship matters, if it didn’t, you wouldn’t be planning to get married! But sometimes when couples do not discuss and have clear expectations of how they want to be treated and viewed, this can lead to insecurities within the relationship.
You will get a chance to learn how to identify your strengths, your partner’s strengths, and learn how to show your commitment to each other.

Increase intimacy and vulnerability

Being able to feel heard, valued, and supported is vital for your marriage! It’s during these moments that you can share if you are feeling scared, nervous, asking for a need to be met or simply seeking comfort from your partner, and not feel bad about doing this!

You will learn effective strategies to turn towards each other instead of turning away or turning to someone else. You will also learn tools on how to maintain a stable relationship and have an opportunity to discuss conversations that may feel vulnerable, such as money and sexual intimacy.

Learn to manage differences and conflict

Arguments and dealing with some conflict is normal within marriages; however, you still deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. You will learn healthy and effective ways to manage conflict, how to engage in self-control, and how to reconnect after having an argument.

Learning this will help you in gaining confidence that you are able to overcome conflict without fearing that there is something “wrong” with your relationship or with yourself.

Identify your relationship within your support system

As you may have already noticed, it’s important to know the people in your life who will cheer for your relationship to grow. These are the people in your life who you will be sharing your important relationship milestones with and important to discuss with your partner, how involved you want them to be.

You will learn that your relationship will soon have its own identity that will function within and outside of your support system and being able to discuss this openly will help avoid feelings of not being heard or feeling like boundaries were crossed.

If you would like to get started in working with a licensed online couples therapist, then you can conveniently schedule with one of us by going through our online client portal.

Please note that we only work with Texas residents, as our couples therapists license is through the Texas state board. We also do not accept insurance for our premarital packages. If you are not a Texas resident, you can still take advantage of our amazing online premarital courses!

If you are interested in additional resources, be sure to check these out:

• Free Conversation Checklist
• A guide that will help you strengthen your relationship for only $17
• Videos and additional worksheets packages

By Priscilla Rodriguez, M.S., LMFT, Owner of Modern Wellness Counseling
Priscilla specializes in working with engaged couples and helps them learn the strategic tools needed so that they can be on the same page throughout every chapter of their lives.