Premarital & Remarital Counseling: The Professional's Handbook

By William J. Hiebert and Robert F. Stahmann

Book Overview

The definitive guide to premarital counseling This is the best premarital counseling guide I have seen in more than three decades in the family therapy and family life education fields. -- William C. Nichols, editor, Contemporary Family Therapy Following the success of the first two editions of this book, the authors updated their indispensable guide on the process and content of premarital counseling. In this revised edition, they have added important information about issues in the forefront today: remarriage, the blended or step-family, intergroup marriages, and younger and older couples. Filled with practical and effective hands-on questionnaires and instruments that have been newly revised and widely tested by the authors, this book is written to meet the needs of a range of professionals, including clergy and clinicians in social work, psychology, counseling, and marriage and family therapy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0787908452
• ISBN13: 9780787908454
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent Book

Outstanding book that is wonderful for those who have little knowledge in this area. Much like a tool box full of tools and advice.

Good Resource

Overall, a good resourse for anyone interested in Premarital counseling. Where many resourses of this type focus on clergical counseling, this book is written from a counseling view rather than a clergical one. This is NOT a religious book, but traditional clergical counseling is not left out of the picture. This book is completely appropriate for both religious and secular counselors. The book is divided into three sections: - Foundations, which gives a history of premarital counseling, plus outlines some motivations for marriage and remarriage. - The Counseling Process, which includes a plan for premarital therapy, including goal setting, dynamic relationship histories, family-of-origin studies, and an overview of available inventories and guidelines on how to use them. - Special Topics, including: Remarriage and Stepparenting, Group Counseling, Communication, Valuse, Decision Making, and Finances, Intimacy and Sexuality, and special situations (very young and older first marriages, forced marriages, conflicted relationships). Where appropriate, there are example figures and graphs, including example reports from inventories (Prepare) and techniques for use with premarital couples (two types of genograms and a dynamic relationship history). The only issue I had with the book is that some of the references cited are quite dated, but some allowance should be made for accounting history. If you're using the book for academic purposes, make sure to check the publication year of the information cited, just to make sure it's applicable to your research.

A Comprehensive Guide

Every clergyperson and secular counselor who does premarital or remarital counseling should have this book. Stahmann and Hiebert have penned an incredibly comprehensive, yet accessible guide for both clergy and secular audiences.The book begins with foundational issues such as reasons why people marry and beliefs couples tend to hold. The goals of premarital and remarital counseling are also discussed. Their brief introduction to the history of premarital counseling was interesting, though not especially helpful. Throughout the book, the authors summarize relevant findings from a large number of researchers.This handbook covers all of the practical issues as well, from fees and number of sessions to the actual content of each session. Special emphasis is given to the couple's history together, exploring each family of origin and previous marriages (if any), and the use of premarital inventories. Among inventories, Stahmann and Hiebert review PREPARE, FOCCUS, and the Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis. PREPARE is used as the example for most of the book.Several subjects are covered under "special topics." These include remarriage and stepparenting, specific marital skills, intimacy and sexuality, age-related factors, and problematic situations. The authors also consider the use of group counseling, although most of the book is written for someone counseling one couple at a time.As a ministry student who realized that my formal seminary training would leave me unprepared for doing premarital counseling, I am grateful to have Stahmann & Hiebert's Premarital and Remarital Counseling. I recommend it along with Charles Taylor's Premarital Guidance and Anderson & Fite's Becoming Married to anyone in a similar situation.

Book jacket reviewer's comments:

"This book will save many thousands of marriages and will prevent many people from marrying an unsuitable partner. For couples and experts alike, all you ever need to know about preparation for marriage." Amitai Etzioni, author of The New Golden Rule: Community and Morality in a Democratic Society."This is the best premarital counseling guide I have seen in more than three decades. Skillfully constructed...it should not be 'on your shelf' but in your hands if you are a mental health professional or clergy member providing such assistance." William C. Nichols, Editor, Contemporary Family Therapy.