Premarital Counseling
Baltimore & Maryland
You’re not here because there’s something wrong with you.
You are here because this matters and you want to do it right.
Beyond a Checklist
Some premarital programs include a questionnaire and a list of topics. That’s valuable, but it tends to cover the questions you’ve probably already worked through.
Often, however, the more useful conversations are smaller and more specific. How you each recover after a fight. If one of you is more likely to go to the other when things get rocky, and the other needs a little space first. What “I’m fine” means in your house.
Premarital counseling here is about watching how the two of you work, and giving you a shared language for it that stays useful long after the wedding.
Our Approach: EFT
EFT is about emotional connection, not about communication technique. The research behind it is solid, 70 – 75% of distressed couples move to recovery and 90% show significant improvement. Those are findings about the modality, not a forecast for a particular couple. We cite them because that’s why we practice this way.
EFT before marriage does something specific. You get starting off with the fun stuff. Often couples who come in during a difficult stretch spend their early sessions just settling things down. You can skip all that and get right to understanding how you connect and what each of you needs when you’re stressed and how to stay reachable to each other.
Our Work
Every engagement is shaped around what you both want to cover.
The common ground includes:
Conflict
How each of you responds under stress, and what helps you find your way back.
Money
Not budgets so much as what money means to each of you.
Family & In-laws
The marriages you each grew up around, and the boundaries you want.
Sex & Intimacy
Expectations, differences in desire, and anything either of you hasn’t raised.
Children
Timing, parenting philosophy, and how you’ll make decisions together.
Carrers & Relocation
How you’ll weigh two sets of plans
Religion and observance
Including interfaith and differently-observant couples
Prior relationships
Anything either partner is carrying forward
Roles and daily life
The expectations that often go unspoken because they seem obvious
Interfaith, intercultural and religiously observant couples
Holidays, how to raise children, which family traditions to keep alive — and what to do when a decision that may seem practical to one partner feels more personal to the other.
We work with interfaith couples, intercultural couples, and couples where one partner is more religious than the other. We don’t have an opinion on what you should decide. We work on how you decide it, so you both can say what you really want, and still feel good about where you end up.
Our therapists work with couples of all genders, orientations and relationship configurations. If either of you is entering into a second marriage, our couples therapy page talks about how we address remarriage and blended families.
No Date On The Calendar Required
We work with engaged couples, couples who are seriously dating and looking forward and couples moving in together. We also see couples where one partner is ready and the other isn’t — a good reason to come in, and often a productive one. That’s a different kind of work, if you’re thinking about marriage instead of getting ready for it. Either way, we can help and we’ll talk it through on the consult call.
What You Can Expect
Session one is an assessment. They are both present. Your therapist will ask about your history of relationships, what you each hope to get out of the process and what you each are curious or uncertain about. The last question often reveals the most useful material.
From there, sessions are built around the areas you and your therapist identify together — using EFT to work with the emotional connection underneath each topic rather than handling them one at a time as separate problems.
Length: Most premarital couples seek us out for about [X] sessions (← confirm). That’s less than the 12-20 sessions common in couples therapy, because you’re starting from a much easier place. Some couples choose to stay longer if there is something they want to work on. Your therapist will talk to you about it instead.
Sessions are 50 minutes, in person in Pikesville or by telehealth anywhere in Maryland.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Most of the couples we see are not. But it’s preventative work, and couples who come in without a specific concern often benefit the most from it, because the time can go right to the material they’re truly curious about.
Approximately [X] (← confirm). Shorter than the usual course of couples therapy, which involves between 12 and 20 sessions. Your first session will involve a discussion of a realistic plan with your therapist.
No. We work with engaged couples, couples that are seriously dating and thinking about the future and couples that are moving in together. You don’t need a wedding date to start.
We are trained in both. Two things: Our therapists operate from EFT, an evidence-based couples model, not a general curriculum. Our practice is both EFT and AASECT sex therapy certified, so questions about intimacy can be part of the same conversation. Very few practices in the Baltimore area have both.
Not at all. A brief focused course of sessions can still be of real value and some couples carry on into the first year of marriage when the material is often most relevant. Tell us your timeline on the consult and we'll tell you straight what's realistic.
You can see the fees for each session on our team page. CICC is out-of-network — we do not bill insurance directly but do provide receipts for out-of-network reimbursement and many FSA and HSA accounts cover therapy. Consultation 15 minutes - free. Telehealth across Maryland; Mark Goldberg, LCMFT, CST also licensed in New York.
A strong start is worth an hour.
Free 15-minute phone consult. No insurance to sort out, no commitment.