When you and your partner begin premarital counseling, your counselor will want to get to know you both as well as your relationship. In order to accomplish this, they will ask questions around the following:
- Common interests and activities
- Marital expectations
- Budget and Finance
- Children and parenting
- Intimacy
If there is a particular area that they feel needs to be explored further (for example, you note that you and your partner have very different spending habits and views on money), they’ll guide the conversation in the given direction.
Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Premarital Counseling that Fits Your Lifestyle
In all seriousness, all of the planning, decision making, and compromises that go into planning the big day pale in comparison to the much more serious and numerous considerations just around the bend. Will you both work when you have kids? Will you have kids? Whose parents will you live near? What kind of life do you want to see for yourselves in five, ten, fifty years?
The above questions are just the tip of the iceberg. What you’re about to enter into is potentially the single-most transformative relationship of either of your lives, so why not make sure that all of these invested emotions and plans are all pointed towards the same thing: mutual marital bliss. Reach out to Thriveworks Grand Rapids for help.
Do I Even Need Grand Rapids Premarital Counseling?
“Need” might be too strong of a word (unless, of course, your officiator or state requires it), but a better way to put it is that getting premarital counseling is a great idea.
Many people tend to tie the knot when they’ve been together for exactly enough time to come to the conclusion that they’d rather not spend their time or romantic emotions and affection with anyone else. This blissful period also happens to be the best time for the two of you to sit down and talk human-to-human about who you are and what you expect from your future. It’s way more difficult to discuss these things in a few years, when communication patterns and unsettled scores have set in, and you’ve grown hardened to a certain behavior or personality trait. Just ask any married person (or a divorcee, for that matter), and they’ll back me up on this.
Also, if things are “just peachy” between you two at the moment, you have no idea what either of you is like when major, life-altering stresses and traumas come along. You may have experienced hard times personally, but the game is much different when you have more than just yourself to consider. At Thriveworks Grand Rapids premarital counseling, we’ll go over all of that and more. Now is the time to talk about your varying perspectives and the challenges just around the bend — which are many, but totally surmountable with some preemptive groundwork and coaching.
What Topics Will We Discuss in Grand Rapids Premarital Counseling?
Let’s say you or your significant other have some apprehensions about getting married. Perfectly normal. Possibly even more normal than having zero concerns whatsoever. Seeing a premarital counselor is the perfect time to examine and unpack each of these concerns to see what’s going on and what can be done about them.
Some potential concerns include:
- You don’t want marriage to turn your beautiful relationship into one of the less-than-happy marriages you see around you
- You love this person now, but will you always love them?
- What’s the point of getting married in the first place?
- You come from different belief systems
- One or both of you isn’t on a steady career path
- Financial worries
When you meet with one of the professional therapists at Thriveworks Grand Rapids for premarital counseling, you’ll have ample opportunity to discuss all of these things and more in a judgment-free environment with an objective third party to keep the conversation moving in a positive direction.
Scheduling Premarital Counseling at Thriveworks Grand Rapids
Some people think they’re saving money by skipping the premarital counseling in Grand Rapids and just jumping headfirst into a marriage, when in reality, they’re setting themselves up for thousands of dollars and years’ worth of trouble.
For a relatively small investment in counseling, you’ll potentially save yourself from paying a divorce lawyer or losing half of your assets to a disgruntled ex-spouse. The professionals at Thriveworks Grand Rapids, Forest Hills Premarital Counseling have worked with a variety of couples from all walks of life. Reach out to us today for help. We offer evening and weekend sessions, accept most major insurances, provide same-week appointments, and offer additional benefits.
