Premarital + Marital

Premarital Assessment

Offered by a Certified SYMBIS Facilitator and Certified Prepare and Enrich Facilitator, after an initial virtual consultation, an appropriate assessment will be given that the couple can do online without requiring in office time. Then, the couple may select from assessment interpretation/ counseling session options as listed below.

Assessments available

1. Prepare/Enrich: 
   This is a premarital assessment that has stood the test of time in its effectiveness to prepare a couple to go into a lifelong relationship with eyes wide open. It is based on national norms of over 500,000 couples. It assesses ten core areas for creating a successful relationship, such as, communication, conflict resolution, money management, sexuality and affection, family, spirituality, roles, leisure, and others.
    

2. SYMBIS – Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts:
   Research shows that certain pre-marriage variables can reveal which couples will do well and which poorly with 94% accuracy. These variables have been integrated into this assessment with ways to address them.

Premarital Counseling

This is not the usual or typical premarital counseling that prepares you for a ceremony, but rather is based on the premise of helping the couple establish a relationship that will be mutually satisfying and will last the test of time.
We spend from 4 to 10 years or more preparing for a career. How much more important is preparing for a successful lifelong relationship? In conjunction with the assessments above and other assessments throughout the course of counseling, premarital counseling sessions that prepare the couple for a lifelong successful relationship based on the empirically validated attachment theory and a solid Biblical foundation are offered in the following options.

Option 1-Five sessions of 2 hours each in  either five or ten weeks, weekly or bi-weekly.

This option provides the couple with some flexibility and autonomy in doing the work in/out of session. It also provides opportunity for applying what the couple is learning about relationship building dynamics. Experiencing change and growth is critical in any healthy relationship. It also gives the couple the opportunity to better evaluate the health of their relationship moving forward. This option begins with the selected assessment above. Then, the first 5 counseling sessions will cover the interpretation and application of those dynamics. Following this, number  other assessments will be done that help evaluate the health of the relationship and its bond, followed by counseling sessions that focus on building the strongest/healthiest bond possible leading into the marriage. In addition, as a part of the premarital counseling contract, the couple will schedule follow up sessions at 1month, 3 month, and 6 month intervals as a part of the total package. This is essential to fine tune the dynamics for establishing a mutually satisfying and successful lifelong relationship.

 The cost of this program is $1000, much less than the wedding or reception generally speaking. This includes the assessments, materials, the 10 hours of counseling sessions, and the 3 follow up sessions. This provides a savings of $300-400 if done on a session by session basis. Knowing that not all intended relationships continue, the package is set up in 2 increments. $500 is due at the time of the first session. This will cover assessment interpretation and application. Once the first 5 sessions are concluded, the next $500 will be due for the focus on the remaining bonding building sessions.  

Option 2 –Ten sessions of one hour each.

This option is offered for those who are more like plodders and want the in/out of session work to be spread out over time. Even though there may be situations in which a scheduling conflict arises it is highly recommended that the ten consecutive sessions plan be adhered to as much as possible. The costs, the assignments, the flow, and the follow up sessions are the same as the above.

Option 3 – Couple’s Intensive Plan

This option is not for the faint of heart. It is for those who want to go the “extra mile” to insure they create a greatly satisfying relationship that lasts. It is also for those who are attempting this for the second or third time and want to avoid repeating old mistakes.  This is a plan that is catered to the specific needs of the couple and involves 16 hours of specialized counseling based on both the premarital assessment and an Emotionally Focused Therapy Framework. It can be scheduled in various ways, catering to the couple’s schedule. The cost is $1800 with various payment options. Option 1 -one-time payment - $1800. Option 2 – 2 payments of $900 each, Option 3 – 3 payments of $600 each, or 4 payments of $450 each. Payments are due prior to the start of sessions.  

Marital

Therapy focusing on the following
The most intimate relationship on earth apart from a personal relationship with God is that of the covenant of marriage. Two individuals become one flesh. This refers to a union of body, soul, and spirit – total intimacy. This is not an individuality erasure, but rather an integration of the core aspects of each person while also maintaining a healthy separateness. When two people are appropriately bonded together, it is a liberating and comforting relationship experience. 

Our services are designed to enhance the foundations of this relationship, repair the breaches and brokenness, enable couples to deal with the realities of the death of a relationship, and to reignite that which had been all but snuffed out.

3. Affair Recovery: When one member of the relationship steps outside of the relationship to connect with someone else it both creates a serious breach of trust and reveals a serious flaw in the relationship. Our approach is to create a safe and nonjudgmental atmosphere to both explore what happened to the relationship and to stop the bleeding. Then, when the couple has stabilized, we begin attachment repair to rebuild a stronger lasting bond.

5. Couples Group for Building/Regaining/Enhancing Intimacy
This is a 10 week group for couples seeking to grow deeper in levels of emotional, relational, and sensual/sexual connection.  It is limited to no more than 5 couples.

For costs, registration, and more information contact the office at 980-288-2396. You may also reach Bruce at bruce@charlottetherapy.com