non-religious marriage prep classes???

[sumbride]

Why aren''t there more of them????

I finally found one in the DC area and the only date they have before our wedding is this Saturday... M already has very important plans... if I asked him to cancel them THAT would require counseling!

So I''m stressed. Anybody know of any great non-church marriage-prep classes in the DC/Baltimore area?

 

[surfgirl]

I''d ask people you know if they know any good marriage/family counselors in your area and go to one of those.

 

[sumbride]

I thought about that SurfGirl but that''s kind of an awkward question.... "Hey, your marriage has been rocky... who is your counselor??" Of course, I know I don''t have to phrase it like that... We just don''t know that many people who either 1) believe in counseling or 2) would be willing to share that info.

Plus I think I''d like the class situation more than the one-on-one thing.

 

[surfgirl]

sum, you can also look up in the yellow pages or better yet, ask your regular MD or your GYN if they can refer you to a counselor that might be good for pre-marital counseling. That way you dont have to ask friends and its more confidential.

 

[So_happy]

I don''t have any further advice, Sumbride, but I wanted to say that your question is a good one! I too think more advertised non-religious classes would be fantastic!!

 

[sumbride]

I''ve found one that looks great... in San Francisco... and it is not in the budget or schedule to go there for a weekend this summer. Same for New York and Boston.

Google keeps bringing up church sponsored programs and the yellow pages aren''t any better. I don''t want sessions with a counselor... I want a 1 or 2 day group event to discuss marital issues but without the focus on faith.

sigh.

 

[monarch64]

I thought that class was universally known as "shacking up?" Just kidding!

We looked for the same thing and ended up having to do three pre-marital sessions with the episcopal priest who married us. It wasn''t quite what we were looking for but he did recommend a great book which I think is titled The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. In fact I know that is the title because I just looked it up, hee hee. anyway it''s a pretty good read if you haven''t picked it up already.

I do agree that there should be more non faith based premarital counseling, especially since there is a demand for it.

 

[sumbride]

Ha, yeah... Monarch! We''ll have been living together over 2 years before our wedding but there is room for improvement going forward I think. I will take a look at that book, thanks! M doesn''t like to read... prefers to hear it verbally... but not from me. That could be a challenge.

 

[Class n Sass]

I''ve been looking for one of these classes as well in the NYC area. I''ve been doing google searches but I really wanted a recommendation from a couple that has already taken the class

 

[sumbride]

For the NYC area, I found www.stayhitched.com. They have DC classes too, just not when we can go.