Asheville North Carolina Wedding Minister

Did You Know?

About 50% of marriages end in divorce and 20% of those divorces occur within the first five years. Many divorces occur partly because couples are not prepared for marriage. Frequently, couples spend more time preparing for the wedding ceremony than they do for their marriage relationship.

Numerous studies show that couples who attend marriage preparation courses and/or counseling increase their ability to resolve differences, and are more likely  to seek professional help before their relationships face serious difficulties.

Reverend Kathy does not require couples to have premarital counseling but highly recommends it. She offers this service in addition to her services as a wedding officiant not only to the couples she marries but others as well. If you are interested in learning more, give her a call or send an email to set up an initial consultation. In addition to couple counseling, Kathy offers individual and group counseling. For more information, call Kathy.

Okay, so how can I prepare for marriage?

After an initial consultation, you will each complete an inventory online. Your two inventories will be analyzed to identify your strengths and growth areas as a couple and provide a forecast of the viability of your upcoming marriage if no changes are made.

You then meet for 3 to 6 sessions with Kathy who will share the results of the analysis and work with you to strengthen areas that need growth.

We will cover such topics as:

Communication Skills
Conflict Resolution Skills
Marriage Expectations
Personality Issues and Compatibility
Couple Flexibility
Role Relationships
Family of Origin Issues
Financial Management
Intimacy & Sexuality
Leisure Activities
Children and Parenting
Values & Beliefs
Personal, Couple, and Family Goals

Kathy ‘s goal is to help you maximize your potential for developing a mutually satisfying relationship on which to build a lasting marriage and healthy family.

Goals of the Program

1. To identify your strengths as a couple and build new ones.

2. To strengthen your communication skills including assertiveness    and active listening.

3. To help you resolve disagreements using a 4 step conflict resolution process.

4. To explore your family-of-origin programming .

5. To develop a workable budget and financial plan.

6. Set goals as a couple and family.

Kathy also has programs designed for couples who are living together and have no plans to marry, couples with children, married couples, and couples over age 50 who are getting married, seeking marriage counseling and/or going through life transitions such as retirement.

In addition to the wonderful Prepare-Enrich program, Kathy works with Affect Psychology and from time-to-time jointly offers workshops with her husband, Mark Hoch.