The Premarital Counseling Handbook

In any endeavor, dreams and goals not backed by concrete plans and preparations can result in failure. And marriage is no exception. In fact, without solid planning and forethought by engaged couples, we’ll see a continuation of the startling divorce rate among Christians and non-Christians alike. Thorough premarital counseling and preparation, however, can result in lifelong marriages that are fulfilling and God honoring. That’s where the church comes in.

More and more churches are realizing their responsibility lies not only in pronouncing men and women ’husband and wife, ’ but also in making sure the proper foundation is laid so that marriages have a better chance of standing strong under pressure. Premarital Counseling has been used by thousands of churches throughout the country as both a guide and reference tool. This edition includes new material from H. Norman Wright covering second marriages, interracial marriages, and marriages of persons from dysfunctional families.

Writing for both pastors and other premarital counselors, Dr. Wright sets you at ease about the counseling process, even if you’ve had only limited counseling experience. As the author of the popular Before You Say I Do and numerous other books on marriage, Wright shares in Premarital Counseling methods that have proved successful. These will help insure the marriages performed in your church will resist the pressures destroying today’s married couples.

H. NORMAN WRIGHT (M.R.E., Fuller Theological Seminary; M.A., Pepperdine University; 1937-2023) was a Research Professor of Christian Education at Talbot School of Theology and a licensed Marriage, Family, and Child Therapist. He taught on the graduate school level for more than twenty-five years and was the founder and director of Christian Marriage Enrichment in Tustin, California. Dr. Wright was the author of more than seventy books, including The Premarital Counseling Handbook, Pressure Points, Communication: Key to Your Marriage, and the best-selling Always Daddy’s Girl. Dr. Wright was married to his wife of 49 years and lived in Bakersfield, CA.