Pre-Marital Counseling is for Everyone

Real Connections Counseling offers pre-marital counseling to help couples prepare for a rewarding and fulfilling marriage. Our co-therapists will guide you through a 15-page assessment questionnaire and online assessment to identify potential rough spots in your relationship. With our foundational relationship-building skills, we will help you develop essential relational skills for dealing with conflict, communication, and trust – the top issues we see in our practice.

Our program is designed to be fun and stimulating, but also challenging. You may find it scary at times as your conversations and relationship move into uncharted waters, but rest assured that it will strengthen your resolve to be a "together-or-not-at-all" couple.

Trust us, the assessment has led to the kind of growth that truly builds relational health. Let us help you create a healthy marriage that will stand the test of time.

The Real Connections Premarital Program

Either two or four personal couples, 50-minute sessions with two therapists (co-therapy)
One four-hour pre-marital class led by two therapists
Two formal assessments and a couple of class assessments/assignments to build your foundational structure

Personal Couple Sessions

One session before the class to get to know you and your desired learning and needs and one session after the group class to work on anything that came up during the class or to enhance that information. If you choose our recommended standard option of four sessions, the remaining two session topics can be determined by you. The purpose of these four sessions is to address any personal concerns or issues you would like to discuss as a couple.

Premarital Class

Usually offered on a Saturday as a four-hour educational event for two to five couples where we cover general skills for a solid relationship foundation, like staying connected for the long term while exploring the enneagram and how it can help you understand your partner’s approach to communication, conflicts, handling life and stress. It’s a skill-building class with proven strategies for building healthy relationship boundaries, strong communication, and conflict resolution.

Assessments

Pre-Marital Questionnaire

Pre-Marital Questionnaire has 15 pages of short answer questions to help us – and you – sort out some of the significant topics that couples need to address and know about each other before marriage. We will customize some group learning to address topics our couples need to address. After the group learning is complete, we can also allow you to come to personalized individual couples sessions at a discounted price to go over these concerns . We include proven strategies for building healthy relationship boundaries, strong communication, and conflict resolution.

Enneagram Questionnaire

We will provide you a code and link to take an enneagram questionnaire before the Premarital Class. It is a 144-question assessment that we will utilize in the group. We will share information about each number and how this will help you in your relationship growth, in communication, in resolving conflicts, and building a solid, intimate relationship.

Please call the office at 515-635-1805 or email [email protected] for more information on specific class dates.

What makes us unique

Co-Therapy

Imagine what it’s like when a real couple in a real marriage both get to be your counselors. They’ll bring a wealth of expertise with them for you, but they also bring a wealth of relationship foibles, mistakes, trials, triumphs and successes from their own marriage to you. Co-therapy is what sets us apart from any other counseling system in Iowa. Yes, they both spend time together with another couple in the room. And the counseling teams at Real Connections Counseling know what you are going through.

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