"At its core, premarital counseling is meant to prepare you and your partner for all the challenges that will test your commitment to one another. It's important to explore topics such as finances, family size, and how to manage in-laws before marriage, but we also need to recognize that the plan decided before marriage may not always apply in 5, 10, or 20 years. Premarital counseling can potentially teach you how to communicate effectively and what you need to discuss."
"Research specifically about the impact of premarital counseling is lacking, and much of what has been published has a niche sample or relies on self-report measures. In my clinical experience, I cannot count the number of times I've heard, "We should have talked about this before we got married," or "I didn't realize you felt so strongly about this." The first is a failure to discuss certain topics (failure to identify what you need to talk about),"
Premarital counseling prepares couples to address challenges and test commitment by covering topics like finances, family size, and in-law management. Plans made before marriage may not suit circumstances years later, so ongoing communication about changing needs is essential. Counseling can teach what topics to discuss, how to communicate intensity of feeling, and how to respond to unexpected change to avoid long-term resentment. Research on counseling outcomes is limited and often relies on niche samples or self-report. Many couples receive counseling through religious communities or officiants, though family-member officiants can reduce candid responses.
Read at Psychology Today
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