Are you thinking ABOUT TAKING THE NEXT STEPS IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP with premarital counseling?
Premarital Counseling or
Pre-commitment Couples Counseling
is a great resource for strengthening the foundation of your relationship so that it can continue to be built upon for many years to come. By fortifying your relationship, you not only strengthen it for today's modern challenges but also create metaphorical insurance for future trials that you may face.
Perhaps you are recently engaged, or are finding yourselves longing to move the relationship forward in a different sense. Perchance you’re ready to take the plunge and move in with one another, or maybe you’ve been co-habitating for some time already.
Regardless, pre-comittment & premarital couples therapy can facilitate lasting change and vigor.
Premarital / Pre-Commitment Counseling
Your work in couples counseling will always be customized to fit your unique needs as a couple. Some popular topics that clients often work through in pre-commitment and premarital couples’ work include:
Secure Functioning
How can you stay connected and committed to one another?
Merging Families
How to manage boundaries & relationships with your new in-laws..
Communication & Conflict Resolution
How to fight well and resolve difficulties that will arise in your relationship
Future Plans & Retirement
What’s your 5, 10, or even 50-year plan? How do your dreams for the future collide?
Religion & Spirituality
Your personal beliefs, your shared beliefs, and the roles they play.
Modern Cohabitation
Living Together for the First Time
Traditions
How can you effectively merge new and old traditions? Which ones no longer serve you?
Intimacy & Sex
Two separate, yet very intertwined concepts. Closeness. Sexual health. Desire.
Children
Do you want them? Do you both want them? How will they reshape your relationship & family?.
Friendship
How do your existing friendships fit in with your relationship?
Marriage
What does it mean to you? How does this alter your relationship?
Identifying & Managing Thirds
What comes in between your relationship?
Finances
How do you conceptualize your money?
Cultural Differences
How do your different upbringings impact the way you show up in your relationship and in the world?
Repair Work
Arguments are natural and inevitable. How do you make up after a fight? Does it truly repair the damage done?
As aforementioned, couples counseling looks different for each couple. However, there are some common attributes to couples’ work that you can expect to encounter in our work together.
The Prepare/Enrich Assessment
New couples will complete a premarital / pre-commitment assessment either prior to or after their first session, depending on the session format selected. It will include a customized assessment tailored to you as individuals and as a couple. The assessment and coinciding program will provide your therapist with necessary information about your background, ideals, areas for growth, and existing strengths. Research has shown that the simple act of taking an assessment improves relationship satisfaction. If you would like to see a sample assessment, click HERE.
Developing Rapport
Your therapist will take time to get to you know, both as an individual and as a part of the couple. You’ll be able to ask questions, speak to your concerns, and begin to develop rapport with your therapist. For more information about what you can expect during your first meeting with your therapist, please visit our Know This page.
Homework
You can expect to receive “homework” to complete following your sessions. The homework may include exercises to do with your partner, watching informative videos, reading articles, or perhaps something else. A relationship is a full-time commitment, not simply a weekly or bi-weekly task, so much of your work will occur outside of the therapy room.
Space Between Counseling Services is proud to offer premarital counseling and pre-commitment couples counseling through Abby Smith, LCPC, Diana Harden, LCPC, Kat Filipov, LGPC, and Daniya Nixon, LGPC.
Developed by Dr. David Olsen, Prepare/Enrich is designed to assist you in identifying your relationship strengths, help you understand your relationship dynamics, and build skills that will create lasting success in your relationship.
Abby Smith, LCPC
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
Abby works with couples in the Premarital or Pre-commitment phase of their relationship. This might mean you’re a couple who recently moved in together, recently got engaged, or are ready to take that next step in your relationship. Premarital or Pre-commitment couples counseling is a great resource for strengthening the base of your relationship through understanding relationship dynamics, encouraging discussion within the relationship, identifying pre-existing strengths, managing major stressors, and building skills to create lasting success in your relationship. The specific topics covered by Abby in the session are tailored to each couple and your specific needs.
abby’s Prepare/enrich fees:
4 Sessions, Each lasting 90 minutes - $999
6 Sessions, each lasting 90 minutes - $1599
Fees Includes The Prepare and Enrich Assessment - a $35 value
Diana Harden, LCPC
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
Diana is a certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator working with Pre-Commitment and Pre-Marital couples.
Diana would like to welcome her couples to a space that can enhance and inform the partner relationship. You and your partner might be looking for a place to work on communication skills, gain a deeper understanding of one another, or simply solidify who you are together as a couple. You do not need to be in a crisis state with your partner to enter into counseling as a unit. Make your relationship a priority because relationships, while extremely rewarding, can pose some tough challenges. Couples counseling is a place to nurture that bond.
Diana will be working with couples who are soon-to-be entering marriage or legal commitments; as well as couples who are newly cohabitating, dating, or considering longer-term commitments in the future.
Diana’s Prepare/enrich fees:
4 Sessions, Each lasting 90 minutes - $999
6 Sessions, each lasting 90 minutes - $1599
Fees Include The Prepare and Enrich Assessment - a $35 value
Daniya Nixon, LGPC
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
Daniya works with Premarital and Pre-commitment couples. People in this stage are usually stepping into a new relationship phase (newly engaged, moving in together, etc.) and are seeking support in establishing a strong foundation to grow from. Daniya is excited to help couples identify and utilize their strengths to understand their relationship patterns and navigate relationship challenges while establishing a deeper connection.
Daniya’s Prepare/enrich fees:
4 Sessions, Each lasting 90 minutes - $799
6 Sessions, each lasting 90 minutes - $999
Fees Includes The Prepare and Enrich Assessment - a $35 value
Kat Filipov, LGPC
Certified Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
Not accepting new clients at this time
Kat works with Premarital or Pre-commitment couples who are moving towards the next stage in their relationship and are looking to make a lasting commitment to each other. Couples counseling provides the opportunity to establish a healthy foundation on which you can build your relationship. By exploring the strengths and growth edges of your relationship, building healthy communication skills, and exploring each other’s perspectives in a nonjudgmental way, couples can grow together and set themselves on the path toward success. Kat values the unique dynamic each couple brings to the table and adapts her work to meet your specific needs.
kat’s Prepare/enrich fees:
4 Sessions, Each lasting 90 minutes - $799
6 Sessions, each lasting 90 minutes - $999
Fees Includes The Prepare and Enrich Assessment - a $35 value
TELL ME ABOUT FEES AND INSURANCE?
Space Between Counseling Services provides Prepare + Enrich premarital couples counseling at the rate of $799-$999 for a total of (4) 90-minute sessions or $999-$1599 for total of (6) 90-minute sessions.
SBCS is not paneled with any insurance plans but can offer you what's called, "out-of-network benefits" (OONB). Not everyone has this as part of their benefits package so please call your healthcare plan and ask these questions:
Do I have out-of-network benefits?
What percentage of my therapist's fee does my plan pay for?
MOST OON Benefits PLANS REIMBURSE BETWEEN 50-90% OF OUR FEES.
At times insurance plans request upfront billing codes your therapist will be using. You can share this list of codes for their approval:
90791 Psychiatric Diagnostic Assessment (from 1-4 sessions depending on the problem)
90847 Family Psychotherapy, conjoint psychotherapy with the patient present
90846 Family Psychotherapy, without the patient present
90887 Collateral visit
When using OON benefits your clinician would provide you with a document monthly called a "superbill" which is like an invoice but contains the service codes, dates of treatment, and monies paid during therapy. You would submit this to your plan directly and your plan would reimburse you directly as well.
You can get in-network therapy if this is out of your budget. Your plan can identify providers who are in-network should you need to use your benefits.
HOW ARE OUR RECORDS STORED?
We at SBCS utilize a HIPAA compliant, encrypted, electronic medical record called Simple Practice that holds all of our client's mental health records safely in it. You will get a link to a client portal where you fill in demographic information and can access documents like invoices and superbills on your own.
HOW DO I PAY MY THERAPIST?
Simple Practice has a credit card processing system named Stripe embedded in it. If choosing to work with a therapist at SBCS, you would upload your credit card number and your therapist will charge after each session or late cancelation for the fee. Your therapist will only have access to the last 4 digits of your card and it is completely secured.
DO YOU HAVE A CANCELLATION POLICY?
All clinicians at Space Between Counseling Services have a 24- business hour cancelation policy You will be responsible for an entire session fee ($799-1599) if the change is made in less than 24 business hours' notice. Exceptions may be made for emergencies such as sudden illness or accidents, at your therapist’s discretion. It should be noted that insurance does not reimburse for canceled sessions and HSA and FSA cards can't be used in these cases.
Interested in learning more?
Our office is conveniently located in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore City, near public transportation.