Getting married soon? Check out a marriage preparation course in Morningside

Soon to be married couples and married couples are invited to join a Marriage Preparation and Enrichment course with Angela Frankel of the Family Life Centre at her home in Morningside.

The course functions to build a solid foundation for future marriage by encouraging couples to discuss their views on a number of marriage-related topics. Some of these include communication, conflict resolution, attitudes to leisure time, family and friends, partner style and habits, financial management, sexuality and affection and spiritual beliefs.

Frankel, a lay counselor, volunteers her time to the centre and has counselled more than 200 couples over the past eight years, talking to people from a variety of cultural, religious and financial backgrounds.

“The course is about connecting couples and helping them understand how to deal with stresses that impact their marriage,” she said. “Often couples disconnect when they undergo stress and don’t know how to reconnect when there’s conflict. This course helps provide a way forward.”

Frankel added that couples often entered marriage without having open, honest conversations about important topics. “The course helps couples to manage their differences and live with each other’s imperfections,” she added.

Couples begin by each taking an online questionnaire through an American organisation, Life Innovations, which generates a report for the facilitator. They then attend five discussion sessions with a counsellor discussing strengths, areas of growth and struggles they have identified and see how they can find solutions.

Ines Schumacher and her husband took the course before they got married in 2015 and said they would recommend it to anyone getting married. “I absolutely loved it,” said Schumacher. “It was important to do because we were not having a religious wedding and I know a lot of churches offer marriage counselling. We did it because we believed it would benefit us in the long run. It opened my eyes to learn things about my husband that I never really thought about before.” said Schumacher.

“There is a bad stigma around counselling and many people think that it’s only for those who are having problems, but that’s not true. You should do it before you have problems so that you can deal with them better.”

She added that she and her husband would return for counselling before they have children so that they could prepare for the challenges that a new phase of life may present.

Frankel emphasised that the programme ensured total confidentiality and was not prescriptive but rather puts couples on the same page before entering a lifetime commitment.

To find out more about the course, visit www.familylife.co.za or call them on 011 788 4784 or contact Angela directly on 083 457 4170.