Marriage: Start a Happy Life Together

Marriage is the most important decision many people will ever make. No one wants an incompatible partner. Therapists can help couples make the right marriage choices by applying the techniques in Dr. Sandra Levy Ceren's new handbook "Essentials of Premarital Counseling: Creating Compatible Couples" (ISBN 9781932690668, Loving Healing Press, 2008).

Dr. Sandra Levy Ceren has been counseling premarital couples and fine-tuning her program for more than two decades. A five-year follow-up survey of her clients found that most couples who used her materials rated them to be of great benefit, and 33 of the 40 couples she counseled who married were still together--a
82.5% success rate in a time when nearly 50% of marriages fail. Such positive results encouraged Dr. Ceren to publish "Essentials of Premarital Counseling." Now therapists around the world can use Dr. Ceren's tools to help couples determine compatibility and the likelihood of establishing a fulfilling and lasting marriage.

Dr. Ceren's ten-week program covers almost every situation a married couple will be faced with and allows prospective spouses the chance to discuss and share how each would deal with a situation. Potential conflicts explored include disagreements over finances (spending and saving money), relationships with each other's family and friends, personal habits, lifestyle changes, job or career changes, relocation, competition, how much time each partner prefers to spend alone and together, allocation of household chores and assorted everyday problems.

Real life examples and safe discussions allow therapists to guide clients into healthy marriages and discover warning signs that a marriage may not be successful. The art of "gracious compromise" is continually emphasized and explored. Therapists will be able to provide couples with:
- Conflict resolution skillsn - Introspective quizzes to reveal each other's inner life and past historyn - Cooperative decision-making and compromise techniquesn - How to overcome bad habits that threaten the relationship's viabilityn - Role-playing exercises to practice situations and potential outcomes

All premarital counselors will benefit from using "Essentials of Premarital Counseling" in their practices. Already the book has received acclaim from other noted therapists. Holly A. Hunt, Ph.D. and author of "Essentials of Private Practice" calls the handbook "An invaluable ten-week program of specific steps to evaluate a relationship, detect warning signs and avoid disastrous pitfalls before committing to marriage." Rosalee G. Weiss, Ph.D. describes the book as, "A remarkable roadmap to a healthy relationship and insight into self." No one considering marriage should do so without employing the activities in "Essentials of Premarital Counseling."