Top Five Reasons to Get Pre-Marriage Counseling (Part I)
Lindsey Webster who has a wonderful site called MastersinCounseling.org was gracious enough to write this article. I have broken the article in two parts and today she will give you two reasons that Pre-Marital Counseling and tomorrow we will include three more reasons.
Here is what Lindsey has to say:
Pre-marriage counseling is something that many engaged couples choose to skip. It is seen as tedious and unnecessary. However, pre-marriage counseling is actually a very wise move for those engaged to marry. It is an opportunity to grow and learn as a couple; a chance to start your marriage off on the best foot. Listed below are the top five reasons to get pre-marriage counseling.
1. To learn and discuss what each expects from their family roles: Believe it or not, we have been conditioned by our parents or caretakers as to what it means to be a husband, wife, family member, etc. Your potential spouse may have a completely different set of expectations than you. For instance, the man may have grown up in a home where the parents rarely showed affection. Therefore, he may not be comfortable hugging or kissing his wife in front of their future children. If this is not discussed beforehand, his wife may mistakenly believe he is no longer interested in her after they have kids. This potential conflict could have been avoided had they discussed their expectations has husband, wife and parent before marriage.
2. To discuss each individual’s values: You may think you know your potential spouse’s values, but do you really? When it comes to marriage, the meaning of values goes a whole lot deeper than the basic moral compass. For example, you know that both you and your fiancé value paying your bills on time. However, you value paying your bills the day you receive them, because you want to make sure you don’t spend the money elsewhere or forget to pay the bill. Your spouse, however, does not share that same value and always chooses until the last grace period day to pay their bills. Either way, the bills get paid, but the value was not just paying your bills on time but which day you pay your bills. This small difference in opinion could break a marriage.
“Tune” into tomorrow to get the other three reasons. 😉