The Premarital Counseling Workbook for Couples by Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT
Are you considering premarital counseling but cost or other issues getting in the way?
The Premarital Counseling Workbook for Couples is the first in my series of Therapy-At-Home Workbooks®, eWorkbooks to provide an easy to follow, convenient and cost effective alternative to face-to-face therapy. It’s not meant to replace face-to-face counseling but rather provides another option for premarital education.
Therapy-At-Home Workbooks®: The Premarital Counseling Workbook for Couples is for couples to use together and provides a framework for you to strengthen your relationship foundation prior to marriage. Its’ interactive format with exercises, worksheets and a space for couples journaling makes it a great keepsake for you and your fiance – to remind you of what you worked on in preparation for your marriage.
This premarital counseling workbook is 71 pages from start to finish and includes the couples counseling theories, methods and exercises used by me in my own San Francisco Bay Area premarital counseling program. It will provide you with guide posts leading to an understanding of the basic principles of a strong relationship foundation and emotional safety – the two driving forces underlying my relationship counseling work.
My premarital counseling workbook will help you and your fiance:
1) Strengthen Your Communication Skills: Being able to effectively listen, truly hear and validate the other’s position is a skill that isn’t necessarily a “given” for many people. Couples that communicate well can discuss and resolve issues when they arise more effectively. I will help you tune up your talking and listening skills. This is one of the most important aspects of emotional safety between couples. We will discuss in detail ways you can communicate effectively as well as look at conflict resolution skills.
2) Increase the Levels of Emotional Safety: I have a very specific definition of “emotional safety” and way to assess the level between two people. They are how much a couple feels respect, trust, prioritized, heard, understood, validated, empathy with and love from each other.
3) Explore Your Relationship Balance: How much attention is paid to the “you,” “me” and “we” of the relationship. Couples who are out of balance can suffer a number of problems. It’s ideal to identify where you’re both at, if you’re ok with it – or if adjustments might be beneficial to your relationship.
4) Identify Problematic Family of Origin Issues: We learn so much of how to “be” from our parents, primary caregivers and other early influences. If one of the partners experienced a high conflict or unloving household, it can be helpful to explore that in regards to how it might play out in the marriage. Couples who have an understanding of the existence of any problematic conditioning around how relationships work are usually better at disrupting repetition of these learned behaviors. We’ll explore what each of you might be bringing into your relationship from your past – and whether there is anything to stay aware of.
5) Explore Your Marriage Logistics/Expectations: It’s incredibly common for married couples to never really have discussed “who” will be doing “what” in the marriage. This can apply to job, finances, chores, sexual intimacy and more. Having an open and honest discussion about what each of you expect from the other in a variety of areas leads to fewer surprises and upsets down the line. We will take a look at you and your partner’s role expectations.
6) Develop Your Personal, Couple, Family Goals and Marriage Vision: It amazes me how many married couples have never discussed their relationship goals – let alone personal or family. This is a long term investment together – why not put your heads together and look at how you’d like the future to look? Where do you want to be in five years? Approximately when would you like to have children? How many children? There are many areas that can be explored and it can be a fun exercise to do together. You and your partner will each learn about the other’s goals and how to combine them into one vision.
See Reviews by Relationship Therapy Professionals, Premarital Education Promoters and Readers
Therapy-At-Home Workbooks™: Premarital Counseling FAQS
What is an ebook? An ebook is an electronic book which can be read on your computer – or in my case – is also downloadable so you can print it out in order to do the exercises, worksheets and couples journal entries. After it’s been printed, I recommend putting it into a three ring binder so you can easily remove and return the sheets as needed throughout the process of doing the workbook with your partner.
What format is it in? PDF format is a popular format for ebooks and this is the one I’m using. All platforms are able to gain access and read PDF formatting. So regardless if you have a PC or Mac, you’re ok. PDF requires the Acrobat Reader but this software comes on many new computers and if not included, it’s a free downloaded from Adobe http://www.adobe.com. PDF files are good for printing out pages – which you will be doing.
How much does the Premarital Counseling Workbook cost? The price for the workbook is $20.00.
How do I get the workbook? You can order securely via PayPal or Google Checkout below. Immediately after completing the transaction you will be redirected to an instant download link. Be aware of the following:
1) Set your spam filter to be able to receive mail from cli...@e-junkie.com for order confirmation.
2) The item on you billing statement will read, “LisaKiftMFT” on Google CheckOut and “Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT ” on PayPal.
Anything else I should know? Being that there is really no way to truly “return” an ebook, there is a no refund policy. If you are not satisfied with the product please let me know your concerns so I can consider making changes to improve it – which being an ebook, I am able to! Also, please note that though this premarital counseling workbook is a face-to-face therapy alternative, it can’t possible replace face-to-face counseling, as clearly the only therapist interraction is guidance via my written word. Though I strive to help guide readers through potentially rough waters, it’s possible that you will be challenged in some of the areas presented. If this happens, I strongly encourage finding a local therapist or counselor in your area.
Feedback: I always welcome feedback. E-mail me with subject, “Premarital Counseling Workbook” in the subject line.
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