Premarital Counseling Specialist Program: A Complete, Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Couples Build Lasting Relationships

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Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Terri L White, LPC Related seminars and products

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Terri L. White, LPC, is the author of Breaking the Silence, From a Mother to a Warrior, and Almost Married. Known as “The Marriage Healer,” Terri is recognized as an expert in couples therapy and utilizes solution-focused techniques to give couples the tools they need for conflict-resolution and intimacy.

Terri is the owner of White Diamond Counseling, Consulting, and Coaching LLC, where she counsels, provides clinical supervision, and offers retreats, workshops, and support groups. She focuses her practice on preparing couples for marriage and healing broken marriages. Terri’s transparent teaching style and her passion for work have made her a sought-after speaker.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Terri White maintains a private practice. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Terri White has no relevant non-financial relationships.

 

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Objectives

1. Describe how and why to position yourself as an expert in providing premarital counseling.
2. Utilize Family Systems Theory to assist couples in examining their relationship through genograms and family maps for unification and to remove cultural barriers.
3. Use resilience-building approaches to teach couples how to manage conflict in relationships.
4. Implement EFT, CBT, Family System and SFT, and Gottman Method techniques to address common challenges faced by couples.
5. Prepare couples to use tools for building a family framework.
6. Examine various delivery formats and how to accommodate the clients within their populations.

Outline

A Framework for Success

• The “why” of premarital counseling
• Top tips for working with couples
• Relationship status of the therapist – impact on therapy
• The “Almost Married” curriculum: an overview
• Applying CBT, EFT, Gottman Method, and more
• Marketing tips and materials to grow your practice
• Limitations of the research and potential risks

Step by Step: Setting Your Clients Up for Success
Sessions 1&2: Unpacking the Past

• Establish a framework for lifetime commitment
• Address the impact of families of origin
• Use family genograms to build understanding and unity
• Identify and addressing faith-based challenges
• Unload baggage from prior relationships
• Resources, activities, and homework
• Video case studies

Sessions 3-6: Preparing for conflict

• “It’s my money!” - Tools to keep financial discussions conflict-free
• Rules for fighting fair
• Activities to enhance conflict resolution skills
• Navigate seemingly insurmountable issues that emerge
• Ownership of self and respecting individuality
• Resilience-building approaches

Sessions 7-9: Beyond 50/50

• Dropping the scorecard
• Move couples from “me” to a healthy “we”
• Address intimacy: honesty, communication, and keeping the spark alive
• Family planning and preparing for successful co-parenting
• Blending families: establishing healthy relationship boundaries

Sessions 10-12: The Marriage Framework

• Activities to practice skills learned
• Create a marriage plan
• Marriage checkups – framework and schedule
• Prepare for the big day

A Group-Based Approach

• Set the ground rules
• Strategies for ensuring active engagement in the process
• Create group unity and foster mutual support
• Tools, exercises, and activities for success

Special Considerations

• Meet the needs of BIPOC couples
• How to implement a faith-based approach
• When engagements end: reframing “failure”
• From cohabiting to marriage
• Customize for unique settings and situations

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Pastoral Counselors
• Other professionals