Premarital counseling
Four sessions before you marry
For couples who are engaged, or planning to marry or live together.
You each fill out a short questionnaire on your own. Then the two of you meet Leslie for four 80-minute sessions, in person or by video. Each session takes one topic, and the last ends with a plan you write together and keep.
Both of you come to every session
The questionnaire is read together, never alone
You leave with a one-page plan
The four sessions
Each session is 80 minutes. A short questionnaire, which you each fill out alone before the first, shapes the plan.
- 01
Step 1: Where you are now
You each say what you picture for the marriage, and the two of you read your questionnaire together.
What each of you expects
How you talk when you disagree
Your questionnaire, read together
- 02
Step 2: Money and home
Income, debt, savings and who pays for what, said out loud, along with how you will share the work at home.
Money habits and shared goals
Debt and savings
Who does what at home
- 03
Step 3: Family, faith and culture
In-laws, holidays, the language you speak at home, faith, traditions and, if you want them, children.
Families on both sides
Traditions and holidays
Faith and children, if they matter to you
- 04
Step 4: Closeness and your plan
Affection, intimacy and time together, then a plan for what you will do when you disagree.
Affection and time together
Repairing after an argument
A one-page plan to keep
Your clinician sets the pace. If you want more time on one topic, you can add sessions at the same fee.
How it works
The method
Leslie draws on the Gottman Method, a couples approach from the Gottman Institute, and on your questionnaire. She explains both at the first session.
What this is not
It is not a test you pass or fail, and it does not decide whether you should marry. It is not therapy for a crisis; if you are in one, the help numbers are on this site.
Length and pace
The package is four sessions. Your clinician sets the pace with you, and you can add sessions if you want more time on a topic.
How it is paid
You pay at the end of each session, and nothing is paid in advance. The package fee is in the written estimate we give you before the first session.
How fees work
Questions
Questions we hear most
Do we both have to come?
Yes. Premarital counseling is for the two of you, and both of you are in the room or on the call for every session. The questionnaire is the one part you each complete on your own.
What if we disagree during a session?
That is expected. Leslie's job is to help you hear each other, not to take a side.
Do we need to be engaged?
No. Couples planning to marry or live together, with or without a date, are welcome.
Ready to begin?
Write to us with a few times that suit you both. We will find the first session.