Christian Premarital Counseling

Courtship - It is perhaps the best phase in an individual's life. You have no responsibility at that point, but you can be with the person you love as much as possible. You are aware of those hidden quirks of your partner, but in that period they do not bother you much. The rosy ideas about your partner, family, home and other things start taking a different turn when you decide to tie the knot. Now marriage itself ushers in a huge transition, forget about what is going to happen later. Moreover, with changing times and individuals craving for their space, words like adjustment, compromise seem to be a far cry. Although if the couple truly love each other, they will do all these things. But making a marriage work is an uphill climb. For that if the couple goes for premarital counseling, it can be really a good point to embark on an advanced stage of relationship. These days Christian premarital counseling as well as marriage counseling have become very common amongst Christian couples. The text to follow will deal with this issue.

Purpose and Benefit of Premarital Counseling

Premarital counseling is important for a number of reasons. First of all, premarital counseling for Christians, although it is not restricted to them, is necessary for making the couple understand each other well. Love, trust and companionship are nothing which can be developed overnight. Counseling can help the couple know each other better and learn the importance of accepting each other as they are. Another reason why it is required is the emphasis on courtship without sex. Pre marriage counseling for Christians is meant to make the couple realize the fact that relationship and the bond has to develop based on personality, values and lifestyle , rather than sex. As mentioned earlier, there are rosy and fairy tale thoughts about their life partner and finding their dream guy in the minds of many women. Premarital counseling puts forth in front of women about the realities and real issues which they might face post marriage and perhaps how to sort them out. A low down on the reality vs fairy tale is given to the couple which is essential to prevent marital problems later on.

Christian Premarital Counseling Method

Several tools are used by a counselor to introduce the couple as to what lies ahead. Taking the plunge and to retain the relationship forever requires a bit more than chocolates, flowers and soft toys! It gives the couple an insight into each other individually, as well as together.

Tool #1
A counseling questionnaire is one of the most potent tools used by the counselor so that the couple knows how much he and she understand each other. This couples' questionnaire has pre-marriage counseling questions ranging from hobbies to religious beliefs and their impact on the parenting style of the couple. Completion of this questionnaire gives the couple a rough overview of each other's expectations from marriage. Counseling questions like, does the couple seem to have an interest in spiritual things, how well do they really know each other and how well do they communicate about spiritual things can be tackled by the counselor or the church pastor or the reverend.

Tool #2
Another very important part of premarital counseling is books. Books describing how the couple should prepare for the wedding to books on love and how to be happily married are available in the market.

Tool #3
A Christian couple can even go for prayer or therapy. Participating in prayer sessions to guide the couple through rough patches in a relationship is all that is required sometimes.

If the couple does not have time for all these, there is a whole gamut of resources on the Internet. The couple can easily get numerous online premarital counseling tips. All the best!