Premarital counseling or pre marriage counselling is a specialized type of technical guidance that helps couples prepare for marriage with long-term vision. Prior participation in their wedding, couples can activate to build a healthy, strong relationship that helps provide a healthier foundation for their union. It can also help couples of all gender, community or religion identify and address potential areas of conflict in their relationship.
Goals and Objectives of Counselling Before Marriage
-
Understanding the view of the relationship
During the premarital couples counselling process, our premarital counsellor guides each partner with one-to-one mentoring sessions. The counsellor also examines the relationship more objectively. He/she will assist the couple in learning how each one of them should perceive interactions positively.
-
Understand how society and cultural issues affect a relationship
Indian society emphasizes more on the religious and social cultural aspect. Some cultural beliefs affect how couples understand every relationship in their lives. It also strongly affects their daily activities like working, finance management, food habits, and fostering new relations. Premarital marriage counselling will help couples identify these problems, teaching them how to use the art of compromise, adjustment thus creating a healthy environment to live in.
-
Eliminate dysfunctional behaviour
Premarital couples counselling in India helps partners identify, rectify, and elevate dysfunctional behaviours.
-
Improve communication
Effective communication is one of the most important factors in any healthy relationship. “Psychology Today” reports that psychologists & counsellors believe that communication is the key to intimacy. A premarital counselling helps couples counsel & guide how to openly express and communicate thoughts and feelings with each other.
-
Identify strengths
Everyone has some hidden strengths and qualities. The best premarital counselling will help the couple identify strengths in the relationship as a whole or each partner. It will provide them a thorough understanding of the stronger aspects of togetherness. Thus, helping them in building resilience and creating a solid foundation to live a healthy and happy married life.
-
Decrease emotional isolation and avoidance
Today, couples find difficulty in expressing their feelings. Some prefer to simply avoid it. Mostly, such type of isolation leads to some serious relationship problems. Proper marriage counselling before marriage will assist couples in learning how to avoid emotional isolation and openly express their view and thoughts to live together.
Premarital Counseling – Common Issues
Premarital counselling addresses a broad range of topics, including these typical issues:
-
Conflict resolution
How does each partner resolve conflicts? How do their perceptions of issues correspond? How can they improve their ability to come to terms on issues on which they disagree?
-
Listening
How listening skills develop bounding and provide the right direction to think. It is a strong tool for trust-building and solves family issues.
-
Communication
How does the couple communicate? Are they following an adaptive or maladaptive method? How often do they communicate or bring discussions on the table?
-
Define marital expectations and beliefs
Every individual has a different set of expectations when it comes to relationships. Sometimes the contradictory expectations and beliefs may give rise to dissatisfaction in relations. Premarital couples counselling and guidance from the best premarital counsellor will encourage each partner to discuss their expectations, after which the couple can work toward finding ways to compromise.
-
Finances
Many couples find it uncomfortable when discussing their finances, and issues with spending and budgeting often create conflicts in marriages. The counsellor helps each partner determine his or her financial style and then works with the couple in resolving these issues with strong future planning.
-
Family
Do both partners want to have children? If yes, what should be the optimal time to start family planning? How many children do they want to have? And if no, what are the strong reasons?
-
Sex and intimacy
Sex and intimacy is the most valuable need in any relationship. Are both partners share equal level of comfort when discussing sex? What are individual expectations of each partner in terms of intimacy and a healthy sexual relationship? Couples must honestly and openly discuss sex, even if they have chosen to remain celibate until marriage. Premarital counselling sessions will guide couples in transperantly disclosing their needs during sex and intimacy.
-
Family relations
In Indian family life, parents have some expectations with their children. They expect some care, help and want involvement. All these factors might disturb the couple. Counselling before marriage will provide you guidance on how to manage and build healthy relations with parents and in-laws.
Benefits of Premarital Counselling
The many advantages of premarital therapy include:
-
Helps build and strengthen conflict resolution skills
Building conflict resolution skills are critical for a healthy marriage. Premarital marriage counselling assists couples in identifying the potential conflicts and effective ways on how to develop the conflict resolution skills.
-
Early Identification of Issues
Different expectations have a disastrous effect on most marriages. The premarital counsellor assists couples in responsible and discussing their hidden and practical expectations early on. If the couple has different expectations, then the counsellor can work with them to identify ways to cope with those differences.
-
Helps couples avoid toxic resentment
When couples believe they are no longer in love, it’s usually simply that they have allowed the offence to build up in the relationship. Resentment is poisonous to happiness, and during premarital counselling, couples learn ways to avoid this type of emotional poison.
-
Reduces fears about the longevity of the marriage
Statistical suggestion proves that marriages end every day, which is concerning to a couple contemplating the prospect. Premarital marriage counselling will help the couples in identifying and confronting any fears while indulging in and maintaining a successful relationship.
Next to Premarital Counselling
Ethical and Legal Considerations in Premarital Counselling in India
For counsellors, Brain Strength Premarital Therapy poses both ethical and legal considerations. We address several important issues such as:
-
Understanding the Scope of Practice & Responsibility
Our Premarital counsellors have comprehensive knowledge and scope of their responsibilities for conducting Premarital counsellor sessions. They do not provide professional services beyond their field of expertise based on education, experience, or lack thereof. And they provide premarital counselling with their specific knowledge and expertise in this specific form of treatment.
-
Confidentiality
Brain Strength strictly adheres to its privacy. Privacy and confidentiality are the most important factors as a part of our counselling. It allows couples and individuals an opportunity to confide in their premarital counsellor. Also, our Premarital counsellors abide by laws to protect their clients’ privacy, which can be difficult in actual practice.
-
Patient Privilege
Our Premarital counsellors are obligated to protect every client’s information. They should never reveal any client information even when called upon to testify in any legal matter. Our counsellors will educate couples during their initial sessions and explain the concept of patient privilege. In some extreme legal cases, counsellors are bound to disclose some specific information to the authorities irrespective of how private it is for the clients.
Should you have any queries related to our Premarital counselling and next to Premarital counselling sessions, do not hesitate to contact us.