Is Premarital Counseling Worth It?

Just came across these stats in an article on the value of premarital counseling:

• Thirty-seven percent of married adults have participated in formal marriage preparation before their wedding, and, according to the National Directory of Marriage & Family Counseling,
  
• Premarital counseling reduces the risk of divorce by up to 30 percent.
  
• 41 percent of divorced folks have said that a lack of premarital preparation actually contributed to their divorce (according to a survey conducted by the National Fatherhood Initiative)

For my husband and I, premarital counseling was an important part of our preparations for life together. A professional therapist was quickly able to identify the communication patterns that, unchecked, might have had disastrous long term consequences. By seeing them early in our relationship, we were able to fight them - and instead creating good patterns of communication that have served us well for the last 10 years.

My verdict: premarital counseling is well worth the expense.