I know it might sound contradictory. Here you are, planning for your wedding, excited for your future and feeling delighted in your relationship. Counseling is the farthest thing from your mind.

But hear me out. Premarital counseling is different than traditional counseling, and here’s why. You’re being realistic and proactive about your relationship. You believe in each other enough to plan ahead for your future and you’re setting up your relationship for even greater success by taking advantage of premarital counseling.

And here’s a promise. It’s not as scary as you might think. In fact, many of the couples I work with say that the experience was uplifting, fun and brought them closer together (is that even possible when you’re already so gaga over each other as it is!? The answer is YES).

So here’s 5 reasons why you shouldn’t just consider premarital counseling, but make it a priority BEFORE you get hitched.

1. It’s important to have the same vision, dreams and life goals. Premarital counseling gets to the heart of your core beliefs, future aspirations and innermost desires. Through counseling, you learn about what’s important to both of you in order to create a strong family legacy.
2. Because there will come a point where you won’t see your relationship through rose-colored glasses anymore. It’s hard to hear, but it’s true. There will be times that you’ll fight passionately, love fiercely and hurt one another. This is normal, and through premarital counseling, you identify foreseeable triggers and warning signs so you can steer clear of relationship trouble as best you can.
3. The majority of couples fight about sex, money and time spent together. You want to make sure you’re on the same page with those big-ticket relationship issues. And what better time to find common ground than now?
4. If you were raised in a home where your parents argued a lot, then premarital counseling is a perfect way to understand your own family of origin in order to circumvent the same negative fighting cycle with your partner. A big part of healthy conflict management is in knowing how you were raised and learning more appropriate patterns of communicating.
5. You’re ecstatic about the future and want to keep that momentum going for the long haul. Therapy is a great way to learn about what’s working WELL in your relationship now. Being able to identify all the ways in which your relationship is strong and healthy increases your optimism about the future and allows you to see the warning signs well before things have the potential of getting out of control.

You already know that you’re marrying the PERFECT person for you. But knowing that is just the beginning. You have to invest in your relationship while things are good now BEFORE making any future mistakes.

Fore more information about premarital counseling in the Fort Lauderdale area, visit The Center for Connected Living and schedule your free phone consultation.