Marriage Coaching is Best Before and After Marriage

What is Marriage Coaching?

Most people are familiar with the phrases premarital counseling, marriage counseling, or couples counseling. But what most do not realize is one of the best-kept secrets, and that’s the option of marriage coaching. It was only offered in religious houses or places of worship and often had the slant of each connected denomination or affiliation.

But recently the practice of life, wellness, and relationship coaching has finally reached into the lives of couples. The primary focus with coaching is a commitment to the present; the here and now. There is often little to no discussion about the past. A good coach keeps the couple focused on their needs and goals as a couple. It is usually targeting solution-focused planning and communication.

How is it Different from Marriage Counseling?

The major difference between marriage coaching and marriage counseling by marriage professionals is directed focus. Marriage counseling tends to focus more attention on what happened in the past. Digging into old wounds and mess around in the psyche of the couple to see where things went awry. The goal here is to repair the damage done by miscommunications and misunderstandings in the past that caused pain.

This is in opposition to what a typical supportive marriage coach does. The emphasis is on what is still going right in the marriage and more energy is spent making those areas stronger. Any miscommunications or misunderstandings are acknowledged, set aside, and the couple’s focus is on using communication skills that work right now.

Here is a quick look at some of the differences at a glance:

COUNSELINGCOACHING
Emotion-Focused: Emphasizes feelings.Action-Focused: Emphasizes behavior.
Looks Back: Analyze the past to determine why you behave as you do.Moves Forward: Looks to the future to define how you will behave differently.
Diagnoses Pathology: Focused on identifying deficiencies or illness.Calls on Resources: Builds on existing strengths and talents.
Open-Ended: Often requires a long-term process to realize insights or change.Short-Term: Always based on a limited number of sessions designed to achieve quick wins.
Often Undefined: Involves goals that fluctuate over time and are sometimes vague.Crystal Clear: Built on a fixed plan with goals that are both specific and observable.
Therapist-Driven: Objectives are determined by the counselor (and often the insurance company).YOU-Driven: Objectives are defined by the client.
Inconvenient: Should be provided in the counselor’s office (not by appointment) to be truly effective.Flexible: It can be easily conducted in-person or virtually by phone, e-mail or video chat.

Table From: Marriagemojo

What Does a Marriage Coach Charge?

All coaches will charge different amounts depending on their availability, experience, and what the market will bear. But as a rule of thumb, marriage coaches will be substantially less than a marriage counselor. For instance, if a counselor is able to charge $90-$450 per session a typical coach in the same market would probably charge $65-$350 per hour. Many marriage coaches may even utilize a sliding scale for clients who were unable to pay their typical hourly rate upfront or be willing to accept trade or payments.

What Problems are Best Addressed by Marriage Coaching?

This list is by no means a complete guide to the problems best handled with one variation or another of life coaching. Because each marriage is unique, as are the issues faced by each marriage, you may find the use of a coach just what the two of you need.

  1. You find that the two of you are often fighting about the same issues again and again
  2. Both of you still have hope things can be different
  3. You and your partner are worried about your children seeing marital conflict
  4. You’re both at a complete loss as to how to repair your marriage
  5. You and/or your spouse become concerned about the future
  6. You’re to the point you are discussing divorce

Also, read this Article on Relationship Coaching

marriage coach session
Picture from rawpixel.com

Online Marriage Coaching

The best part about using a qualified marriage coach is the ability to get creative access to them. Online marriage coaching has become the standard today. Many people due to proximity or busy work lives find it beneficial to utilize the services of an online professional when it is convenient. Couples are now able to even get together using three-way communication to do couples coaching while in different locations. Unique challenges are less difficult to overcome with technology and coaching. Video conferencing, phone calls, and even internet messaging is now considered commonplace in the coaching industry.

Online licensed counseling has many more restrictions due to regulations that do not apply with the use of certified coaches, so utilizing online resources is much easier if you can find the properly trained relationship coach.

get certified as a life coach today Austerity Health Academy

How Can I Become certified to do Marriage Coaching?

The first thing to do is decide what type of marriage coach you want to be, one who focuses on assisting couples before they take the plunge into the commitment of marriage or those who have already begun their lives together and are now looking for help with their marriage now.

The second consideration is to think about what you are wanting from a career in marriage coaching. You may be just wanting to help other couples on the weekend, or considering embarking in a new career, either part or full time. Marriage Coach Certification is not an easy goal to go after.

Once you have decided on these options the next thing do is to choose the right educational training and certification program. There are many training programs and the cost, as well as value, vary greatly. But with Austerity Health Academy, you know you are getting the most comprehensive coach training program available as well as an extensive library of continuing education resources.

The last thing to consider is how to build your business and get clients. Again, this is covered when you choose Austerity Health Academy as your partner. Each coaching training course and certification program comes with the bonus of business organization, marketing, operation, and best practices materials needed to get your new coaching business up and running.