Premarital Counseling

Premarital therapy can look differently depending on who is delivering it. A religious leader may use a different approach than a therapist. Premarital therapy delivered by a secular therapist outside of a religious context usually consists of:

-Assessment: This phase will evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the particular couple. This is to provide a well-rounded insight into the couple and look for threats to their relationship in the future.

-Intervention: This phase consists of discussions, exercises, and readings designed to help the couple make specific changes. This can looks like games, communication exercises, worksheets, or intentional conversations to aid the couple in developing insight, skill, and confidence.

-Integration: Assuming the premarital therapy lasts more than 1 session (which most last more than 1 session), then the therapy may seek to help the couple integrate their desired changes into their daily life. This may be exercises they are to do at home, between sessions. The purpose of this is to bring the skills home and use them to improve.

-Preparation: This phase is about ensuring that whatever change they needed to make lasts. This may involve developing plans to prevent any issues from returning, commitments each partner will make to each other and their relationship, and building a plan of action should problems begin to return. This phase may also include referrals for ongoing therapy or support of that is appropriate.

Premarital counseling can range in price from $0 to $2,000. Premarital counseling done through a religious organization may offer it free of charge. Additionally, if someone does premarital therapy through their health insurance, they may also pay little to nothing. If insurance wont cover it, or if you participate in a private program, you may be charged a flat fee or may pay an hourly rate. 

Premarital therapy is usually not covered by insurance. However, if one or both members of the couple meet the criteria for a mental health diagnosis, and if it is clear that the mental health diagnosis is related to the relationship, then the couple may participate in family counseling which often is covered by insurance. 

It depends on the program. Some programs are one day long, usually a few hours. If people do premarital counseling through a mental health agency, then you should consider that you will participate between 5-10 sessions, each lasting roughly 1 hour.

Some premarital couples find benefit and want to participate in couples counseling long-term and are doing so as a pre-married couple.