Premarital Counseling in San Diego: Choosing the Best Option for You

Looking for premarital counseling in San Diego? We can help you find the best option for you and your partner.

You’ve met someone, gotten to know them, and you’ve decided to take definitive steps toward marriage. There are many choices involved when it comes to getting married, including whether to have a small or large wedding, color schemes and catering options, seating arrangements, guest gift bags, and more.

As a part of that journey toward marriage, you’ve begun to consider premarital counseling in San Diego, California. Here, you’ll have other choices to make, such as whether to go for counseling at your local church or to make use of professional counseling services at a private practice in San Diego. You’ll also have to decide how to do your counseling – online, in person as a couple with just you and your counselor, or as part of a group with other couples.

The Benefits of Premarital Counseling in San Diego

First off, your choice to go for premarital counseling in San Diego is a good one. In the thick of making the myriad decisions that go into a wedding, it’s important to be investing in the marriage itself. For some couples, premarital counseling comes before they’ve committed to marriage, while others do it after they’ve agreed to get married. Either way, premarital counseling fits as part of preparing for marriage.

There are many benefits to premarital counseling. It can help you draw closer together as a couple as you work through important aspects of your relationship. By talking about issues that often derail marriages, like finances, sex, infidelity, roles and responsibilities in the home, and your boundaries, you prepare yourselves to face these issues and have a starting point for your conversations on these topics later on in your marriage.

Premarital counseling in San Diego also provides you with the training to communicate and resolve problems amicably. Communication is about more than just knowing how to express yourself and your feelings clearly; it’s also about being able to listen well so that you hear what the other person is saying. Communication is the lifeblood of a relationship, and premarital counseling helps you nurture this important skill.

All in all, premarital counseling helps you to prepare for your marriage. It alerts you to areas of possible disagreement or mismatched expectations and helps you begin addressing them. You and your partner are then equipped to make an informed decision about whether to move forward in the face of possible dealbreakers.

Choosing Between Different Premarital Counseling Options

There are different platforms through which to receive premarital counseling in San Diego. Whichever you decide to go with will come with the benefits described already. Each platform will have its pros and cons, and you can decide what works best for you. You can receive premarital counseling online, or you can get it in person, whether in a group setting with other couples, or just the two of you and your counselor.

Some things to consider as you weigh what will work best for you include what will be most convenient for you, your communication preferences, what your insurance will cover, and your openness to explore personal questions and issues with other people around.

Online counseling has the benefit of being convenient. You don’t have to drive to your appointment, and your counselor doesn’t have to be near where you are. Your sessions can fit your schedule more easily because you’ve got a wider range of options to choose from since distance isn’t a limiting factor. If you don’t want to be seen entering a counselor’s office, the online option gives you that option.

Doing counseling online might have its drawbacks. If you work on a computer all day, your counseling session might feel like yet another computer-related task. Talking with someone online doesn’t have the same feel as doing so in person; our internet connections and webcams have gotten better, but they still can’t deliver the same tangibility that walking into an office and sitting in a chair across from someone does.

In-person couples counseling If you choose to go in person to meet as a couple with your counselor, that option has its benefits and drawbacks too. You get exclusive time with the counselor during your session, and you can go quite deep in particular directions. If you prefer a greater sense of privacy, in-person couples counseling gives you that compared to group counseling.

One drawback is that it tends to be more expensive than other forms of counseling.

Group counseling Group counseling can help foster a sense of camaraderie with other couples on similar journeys. Hearing other’s perspectives can be encouraging and humbling; you can get ideas from others as you witness how they resolve issues or handle complicated dynamics. Group counseling also tends to be cheaper, making it a cost-effective option.

A drawback of group counseling is that you won’t have the counselor’s exclusive time, and you’ll have group dynamics to contend with. Some groups are comfortable, and group members are respectful of others, creating space for each other. Other groups have challenging dynamics that need to be navigated.

Next Steps

Whichever option you choose, premarital counseling in San Diego will benefit your marriage and help you to make a wise, informed choice. You and your partner can reach out to us today at San Diego Christian Counseling to find a Christian couples counselor you’d like to work with and learn more about premarital counseling in San Diego and the options available to you.