Marriage Preparation Course – Prepare/Enrich Assessment

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Looking to prepare for a lifetime of marriage?

Are you engaged? Planning to marry?
Are you seeking good preparation for family life?
Do you want a satisfying marriage, not just a happy wedding?

Congratulations on your engagement! Our relationship counsellors are well experienced in pre-marriage counselling and will be more than happy to assist you in your preparation for a strong, healthy relationship and happy marriage.

The PREPARE/ENRICH premarital counselling program is a practical questionnaire designed to help couples identify areas of growth and potential challenge in your relationship. Three in-depth feedback sessions are provided to discuss the assessment reports.

Booking form

(02) 9683 1444

The Prepare/Enrich pre-marriage course

What is PREPARE/ENRICH assessment?

PREPARE/ENRICH is a customised questionnaire completed online. The assessment identifies a couple’s strength and growth areas. It is one of the most widely-used programs for pre-marriage counselling and premarital education and is also used for marriage counselling, marriage enrichment, and pre-engagement counselling for dating couples. The couple completes an online Inventory Questionnaire separately which takes 30 – 45 minutes to complete.

Based on couple’s Prepare and Enrich assessment results, the counsellor provides three or more feedback sessions in which they help the couple discuss and understand their results and equip them with proven relationship skills. This pre-marriage course is different from regular counselling sessions which focuses on a particular problem or crisis.

Our experienced marriage counsellors are accredited facilitators of scientifically validated PREPARE/ENRICH assessment tool.

The pre-marriage counselling sessions:

The facilitator/counsellor contacts a couple to schedule three feedback sessions when the couple completes the online assessment.

The focus of the feedback sessions is to work through the questionnaire responses to help:

Explore similarities and differences in expectations
Identify the strengths and growth areas in the relationship
Learn and improve skills in stress reduction and conflict resolution
Explain the difference of communication forms
Comfortably discuss potential financial issues
Discuss family backgrounds and practices
Discover personality traits of partners

Three feedback sessions are usually enough for most of the couples. If more sessions are required, you will be able to request those at your facilitator/counsellor’s standard fee.

Common topics for pre-marriage counselling

As cliche as it sounds, communication is the key in any relationship. Marriage is a commitment between two people who may have differing views on certain issues, from the relationship itself to spiritual beliefs, finances, parenting, and sex. No two people always see eye-to-eye. How you handle these difference significantly affects the success of your marriage.

Talking through these important issues before the wedding day can prevent any nasty surprises and will help you make better decisions going forward. That is why PREPARE/ENRICH pre-marriage counsellingfocuses on some key questions that help you go deeper into the heart of a healthy marriage.

Conflict and communication

The absence of conflict is not directly related to marital happiness as much as how conflict is handled. Premarital counselling can provide you with the tools for good communication into your marriage. It can also reveal unhelpful conflict patterns that might need to change.

How comfortable are you with raising relationship concerns with your partner?
How might your communication styles affect how you deal with conflict?
Do you feel like your partner is willing to understand you and meet your needs?
What does forgiveness look like in your relationship?

Relationship goals

Perhaps the most important thing is to know why you are getting married. Pre-marriage counselling will help you open up questions such as:

Of all the people in the world, why did you choose your partner to marry?
What are your ideas on roles and responsibilities in the marriage?
How do you expect your relationship to change after marriage?
What do you both want for your relationship in 10, 20 or 30 years?

Financial management

Money can cause a lot of stress. Deciding how to spend money can be problematic for a lot of couples. One way to reduce the conflict in the future is to openly discuss your financial future together and plan your short-term and long-term goals.

Should you have joint or separate accounts, or both?
What is your philosophy on spending, saving and generosity?
Who is going to be mainly responsible for keeping track of the finances?
What are your plans for renting or purchasing a home, or budgeting for a family?

Sex and intimacy

Intimacy is more than just about sex; it is how you communicate affection and appreciation for each other on an ongoing basis. Talking about sex can feel awkward, but it is wise to have a serious conversation about it before marriage. Issues such as jealousy and loyalty are also important topics to address.

What is your and partner’s love language?
How can you make sure you regularly set aside time for each other?
What are your expectations of sex? and intimacy?
What could potentially jeopardise trust and commitment in your marriage?

Children and parenting

Not every couple wants to have children, but it is very important to keep an open dialogue about it, as it could be a deal-breaker for some.

Do you want children?
If you decide to, how many children do you both want?
What is your philosophy of parenting and discipline?
What are your expectations about work and family when children come along?

Family

When you marry someone, you are marrying into a new family. Managing expectations around in-laws helps protect the boundaries of a marriage. Pre-marriage counselling opens up questions such as:

How would you describe your family in terms of closeness?
What do you like or dislike about your family?
How much time will you spend with your in-laws?
What are some family traditions that are important to you?

The above questions are just few of the most common pre-marriage counselling topics.
Our experienced marriage counsellors use the PREPARE/ENRICH assessment to help open up hidden areas of conflicting expectations and potential issues.

A lifelong union requires a solid foundation, and we would be glad to be part of your process of preparation.

Cross to a better life

Ring us for a free phone consultation.

Booking form

(02) 9683 1444

Looking to prepare for a lifetime of marriage?

Are you engaged? Planning to marry?

Are you seeking good preparation for family life?

Do you want a satisfying marriage, not just a happy wedding?

Congratulations on your engagement! Our relationship counsellors are well experienced in pre-marriage counselling and will be more than happy to assist you in your preparation for a strong, healthy relationship and happy marriage.

The PREPARE/ENRICH premarital counselling program is a practical questionnaire designed to help couples identify areas of growth and potential challenge in your relationship. Three in-depth feedback sessions are provided to discuss the assessment reports.

The Prepare/Enrich pre-marriage course

What is PREPARE/ENRICH assessment?

The pre-marriage counselling sessions:

Common topics for pre-marriage counselling

Conflict and communication

Relationship goals

Financial management

Sex and intimacy

Children and parenting

Family

Cross to a better life

Ring us for a free phone consultation.

(02) 9683 1444

enquiries@bridgescounselling.com.au

Bridges Counselling Parramatta

Bridges Counselling Hills District

Monday – Friday 10 AM – 5 PM