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Thanks to Amanda Verzello of Brigham Young University who brought a resent study done there to my attention;  on the effectiveness of premarital education.  The conclusion they came to is a mixed bag – “yes,” for improving communication and “no” for improvement in relationship quality or satisfaction. 

They point out that the reason why there may be no improvement in the area of satisfaction is that premarital couples are typically at the highest point of infatuation and love.  Basically, they can’t really be happier than they already are.  So this isn’t really a ”strike” against premarital education at the end of the day.

Being a therapist who offers a San Francisco / North Bay Area premarital counseling package for couples in my office – and author of The Premarital Counseling Workbook for Couples – I’m pleased to see another study on the effectiveness of this type of work.  Here it was demonstrated that communication improved which in and of itself can help people successfully navigate through the bumps in the road of life – together.  In my premarital work I also stress other elements of building a strong relationship foundation in areas including emotional safety, relationship balance, expectations / logistics and more.

Not only is my practice experiencing a surge in premarital counseling clients but just the other day I was interviewed for a piece for CNN.com on the benefits of premarital counseling and why young people seemed to be more interested in it these days.  This seems to be a hot topic lately and I’m thrilled that there is a spotlight shining on this important subject!

See my article, Getting Married?  6 Great Reasons to get Premarital Counseling  and the article referencing the BYU study called Do Marriage Prep Classes Really Work?

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Lisa Brookes Kift is a psychotherapist and creator of Notes from a Therapist’s Chair: The Therapy and Counseling Blog; a feature of The Toolbox at LisaKiftTherapy.com.  To stay updated on the most recent therapy / therapist related posts subscribe to Notes from a Therapist’s Chair Blog RSS Feed.

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