Premarital Counseling in Boston

Who This Is For

You are engaged, or you are close to it. Things are good, and you want to keep them that way. Maybe you have noticed one fight that keeps coming back. Maybe you grew up in very different families and want to know what that will mean once you share a home, a budget, and maybe children.

Premarital counseling is for couples who would rather have the hard conversations now, while you still like each other and nothing is on fire. You do not need to be in trouble to start. You do not need to be getting married in a church, or getting married at all. Engaged couples and long-term partners who are not married work the same way here.

What We Talk About

Every couple brings their own list. These are the topics that come up most often:

• How you fight, and how you make up afterward
• Money: who earns, who spends, who worries
• Your families, and what each of you learned growing up
• Children: whether, when, and how you would raise them
• Sex and closeness, and what you each expect over the years
• Work, ambition, and where you will live
• Who does what at home
• Faith, values, and the traditions you want to keep

We do not try to settle everything. The goal is that you both know where the other one stands, and that you know how to talk about it when it comes up again.

How Premarital Counseling Works

Emotionally Focused Therapy: EFT is the framework I use. It helps you understand what is really going on underneath a fight, so you can reach for each other instead of away.

Gottman Method Tools: I am trained in the Gottman Method through Level 3, and I use those tools where they fit, especially for conflict and repair.

Your Pace: We decide the number and spacing of sessions together, based on what you want to cover and how close the wedding is.

Private and Practical: Sessions are 90 minutes on Zoom, on a secure platform. You can join from home, together or from two rooms, as long as you are both physically in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire or Rhode Island during the session. I am licensed in all four. Evening and weekend appointments are available.

Why Boston Couples Choose This Practice

I see couples only, and I have done this work for more than 20 years. Sessions are 90 minutes, not 50, so we have time to get past the first answer. There is no commute across the city and no waiting room. I work with all couples, including LGBTQ+, polyamorous and consensually non-monogamous couples.

If you want a longer block of time before the wedding, I also offer weekend intensives in your home. Those are by consultation only.

If you are not sure premarital counseling is what you need, say so in the consultation. If I am not the right fit, I will tell you, and I refund the consultation fee.