Premarital counselling
You've planned the wedding down to the napkins. Premarital counselling is where you plan the marriage: money, family, conflict, intimacy and the expectations you don't yet know you disagree on, talked through calmly, before they ever become fights. I'm Shagoon Maurya, a registered counsellor and psychotherapist (ACA Level 2, PACFA).
Whether you call it premarital counselling, pre-marriage counselling, counselling before marriage or premarital therapy, the idea is the same: the strongest marriages aren't the ones that never disagree, they're the ones that learned how to disagree before the stakes got high. Couples counselling before marriage is preparation, not repair, and research consistently links it with higher marital satisfaction and lower divorce rates.
What we cover before the wedding
Money & lifestyle
Spending styles, debt, saving goals, merging finances (or not), and who decides what, the number one source of marital conflict, defused early.
Family & boundaries
In-laws, holidays, obligations and expectations, agreeing where your new family's boundaries sit before others draw them for you.
How you fight
Your conflict styles and triggers, and practical tools for arguing in a way that resolves things instead of wounding.
Intimacy & affection
Expectations around closeness, affection and desire, easier to talk about now than after resentment has grown.
Children & future plans
Whether, when and how many, plus parenting values, careers, relocation and what "our life" actually looks like to each of you.
Roles & expectations
The invisible assumptions each of you brings about what a husband, wife or partner does, made visible and negotiated.
What premarital counselling sessions look like
Sessions are guided, warm and practical. Each one takes a key area, surfaces what you each quietly assume, and turns differences into workable agreements. You'll also build shared skills, communication, repair after arguments, decision-making, that outlast the counselling itself. Most couples complete four to eight sessions in the three to six months before the wedding, over secure video from wherever you each are.
Weddings take a year of planning. Marriages deserve at least a few honest conversations.
Pre-engagement counselling
Not engaged yet, and wondering whether you should be? Pre-engagement counselling brings the same guided conversations forward, for couples deciding whether marriage is the right next step. There's real courage in checking compatibility before the proposal, and clarity either way is a gift to you both.
A note on "prenuptial counselling"
Some couples search for prenuptial counselling meaning exactly this kind of preparation, and that's what I offer. If you mean a prenuptial agreement, that's a legal document from a lawyer, not a counsellor, though the money conversations we have in sessions tend to make any legal discussions considerably calmer.
Premarital and marital counselling, one continuous support
The work doesn't have to end at the altar. I offer both premarital and marital counselling, so the same trusted space can continue into the marriage, whether that's a tune-up in the first year, structured CBT marriage counselling, or broader relationship counselling whenever life asks more of you. And if either of you has been married before, my premarital counselling for second marriages and blended families is built precisely for that.
Premarital counselling FAQs
Structured counselling before marriage: guided conversations about money, family, conflict styles, intimacy, children and expectations, so you enter the marriage with the big topics already talked through rather than discovered mid-argument in year three.
That's actually the best time. Premarital counselling isn't for troubled couples, it's preparation, and research links it with meaningfully higher marital satisfaction and lower divorce rates. Strong couples use it to get stronger.
Each session takes a key area, surfaces what you each assume and expect, and turns differences into agreements. Most couples complete four to eight sessions in the months before the wedding.
The same guided conversations, held earlier, for couples deciding whether to get engaged. Clarity about compatibility before a proposal, rather than after the invitations are sent.
No. A prenuptial agreement is a legal document prepared by lawyers. Prenuptial or premarital counselling is relationship preparation, and I don't provide legal advice, though our money conversations often make any legal discussions calmer.
Yes, I offer both premarital and marital counselling, so the same support can continue into the marriage whenever it's useful.
Yes. Sessions are held over secure video worldwide, across time zones, and you can join together or from two different locations.
Build the foundation before the life
Book a free, no-obligation 15-minute consultation for you both.
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