Essentials of Premarital Counseling

This is a very insightful and helpful book.  It gives practical advice on what a counselor can do to best help their clients.  There are many illustrations that give various points of view, giving one a better understanding of personality traits and how clients might possibility respond in various situations.  

There is a very nice breakdown on what a 10 session premarital program might look like, sharing the importance of both single and joint counseling sessions.  There are personality and relationship quizzes to take and then great details given concerning answers those particular questions.  There is also included an all important chapter on "Communication and Conflict Resolution."  The author lists the role of the listener as well as the presenter and the importance of both.  This is vital within the life of any marriage and very helpful information.  Then role playing situations are staged allowing each individual to see how the other person may feel in a given situation.  This is helpful to allow one from being so opinionated and more open minded to what their partner may be going through.  Giving one a different perspective or point of view would be huge to avoid difficulty within a marriage. 

There are case studies included that will help one to see the various type of situations that a couple could face and options of how they could be handled in a positive manner.  There are some partners who will not change no matter what and there are examples of that as well.

Also included is a great resource section that allows the reader to dig in further concerning a particular topic or issue that they would like additional information about.  The detailed premarital quiz at the end of the book could be invaluable to better understanding one's future mate, thus allowing the opportunity to cut down on future frustration.

I would recommend this book to premarital counselors as a great resource.  Author Sandra L. Ceren, PhD. does a fantastic job of helping one to consider many items that could be overlooked that would allow one to avoid costly mistakes.

5 of 5 stars