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The best time to build a strong relationship is before the pressures of marriage, shared finances, and possibly parenthood fully arrive. Pre-marital counseling gives couples the tools, conversations, and self-awareness to begin married life with a real advantage.
Dr. Sally Hackman, PhD, MFT, offers pre-marital counseling for couples in Santa Monica and throughout Los Angeles who want to enter this next chapter with their eyes open — knowing each other more deeply, having navigated difficult conversations before they become difficult moments, and building a shared vision for the life they want to create. Many couples comes to therapy having never discussed things like setting up their finances whether or not to have children and how many and even how they view a marriage. Partnership a leader, and a follower, yours and mines versus ours and so on. Pre marital counselling can help avoid these difficulties later.

Pre-marital counseling helps couples identify potential sources of conflict before they arise — finances, family, parenting, intimacy, values — and develop the communication tools to navigate them when they do.

A supportive, non-judgmental space to have the honest conversations that are sometimes hard to have on your own — and to enter marriage with greater confidence and clarity.

Dr. Hackman helps couples understand how each partner's family of origin and personal history will shape the marriage — and how to use that understanding as a resource rather than a source of conflict.
Pre-marital counseling is not about fixing problems — it is about investing in the relationship before problems arise. Couples who seek counseling before marriage consistently report stronger, more resilient relationships.
It varies by couple. Some couples stop the work in 6-8 sessions; others prefer a longer engagement. Dr. Hackman discusses your goals and tailors the number of sessions accordingly.
Common topics include communication styles, conflict resolution, finances, family expectations, parenting intentions, intimacy, career and life goals, and how each partner's family history may influence the marriage.