pre-marriage counseling (San Antonio, Anton: camp, live, education)

[petrockmedia]

anyone know of places where engaged couples could receive pre-marriage counseling, other than their local church?

[kevcrawford]

The only one I know of is at the Church I attend (Community Bible), but I know there are probably many others around that aren't with a certain Church.

I can't recommend this enough. It's a great preparation for you to know what you're getting into with marriage. Because you're willing to work at it before you even get started, I'm sure you'll have a great marriage. It's definitely work, but it's been the most fun I've had in my life.

[djw]

Originally Posted by petrockmedia

anyone know of places where engaged couples could receive pre-marriage counseling, other than their local church?

I'd think that anywhere that offers marriage counseling would likely offer pre-marriage services as well. Maybe your PCM can refer a couselor or you can just google for marriage counseling, then screen the counselors from that list - asking specifically about pre-marriage counseling.

Good luck!

[rd2007]

or maybe just talk to people that have been married for a long time? I'm always leery of counselors, because they don't always know how it is in the real world. Books and theory are nice, but I'd take my 22 years (in a couple weeks) of actual experience over a piece of paper any day..

[kevcrawford]

I know that the pre-marriage counseling at my church has a weekly class, then you're paired up with a couple that's been married a minimum of 20 years in our church for private mentoring sessions. I think a lot of the churches do it that way.

[dsm_626]

Originally Posted by rd2007

or maybe just talk to people that have been married for a long time? I'm always leery of counselors, because they don't always know how it is in the real world. Books and theory are nice, but I'd take my 22 years (in a couple weeks) of actual experience over a piece of paper any day..

Firstly, congratulations on your 22 years of marriage, but books and theory are very far from what counselors do. This statement is unfair for those who have not been fortunate enough to have what you have. To make it simple, we pay for physical trainers because they have gone through the training and know what they are talking about, we pay for doctors to take care of us because they have gone through years of education to give us books and theory and keep us alive. Saying that counselors don't know how it is in the real world makes no sense what so ever, its like your saying they are not human. remember when a person goes to counseling it is for a reason and the counselors job is to guide the person through whatever it is they are there for. They say presto and suddenly you are better. They can only give you options for your issues and then the person makes the choice for the next action. That piece of paper by the way is a certificate of "experience"


many church counselors are a good way to go because they are generally free or at least economical and the "mega churches" usually always have programs. I know oak hills of camp bullis offers something. so long as you are okay with a counselor who has a religious angle on their counseling it should be hard to find an affordable one. and kudos to you for looking for a way to be prepared for the hard times

[perticusrex]

I have to agree with DSM. Pre marital counseling really set a strong foundation for my husband and I on what God has intended for our marriage and making our marriage "christ centered" two things that prior to "counseling" we had never really even thought of. I dont even consider what we went thru as counseling, it was more like giving us motivation for a healthier marriage. The "counselors" we saw are members of our church and have been married over 30 years, but they never really dispensed any of their personal experiences, everything was bible based and we took an "inventory" of our relationship to see how well our answers compared, and overall I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to go thru the sessions and I firmly believe that those sessions were the platform for the continued praise and thanks we give to God for bringing us together.

Couples can endure years of marriage, but how healthy, how focused, happy, and purposeful were those years?

[perticusrex]

Originally Posted by petrockmedia

anyone know of places where engaged couples could receive pre-marriage counseling, other than their local church?

Here is a website I found, though I dont know much about the providers it lists. Hope this helps!

Marriage Counseling San Antonio : Family Counselors in San Antonio TX