Premarital Counseling in Columbia and Greenville, SC

Premarital counseling for engaged couples, and couples thinking about getting engaged, in Columbia, Greenville, Charleston and the Lowcountry (Mount Pleasant, Summerville), and anywhere else in South Carolina. All of our South Carolina sessions are by secure video, and both of you need to be in South Carolina at the time of each session. Two of our clinicians are the usual match for engaged couples: Csilla Hajnal, MS, LPC, LMFT, and Katharine Kilpatrick, LMFTA. Call (843) 699-6220 or send us a message to get started.

To begin, contact us or check your insurance. We offer couples therapy, individual therapy and family therapy — by telehealth across twelve states, including Florida, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and South Carolina.

What Premarital Counseling Is For

Premarital counseling is for couples who are doing fine and want to stay that way. It covers the subjects most couples otherwise meet for the first time in an argument, and it gives you a calm place to talk them through while the stakes are still low.

It is not a test of whether you should get married, and your clinician is not there to grade the relationship. Most engaged couples come because they want to know each other well before the wedding, not because something is wrong.

What You’ll Talk About

Every couple brings its own list, but these subjects come up often:

• Money: earning, spending, saving, debt, and whose name is on what
• Families of origin and in-laws, and how close each of you wants to be to them
• Children, and whether to have them
• Work, careers and how you spend your time
• Sex and intimacy
• Values and traditions, including how you mark holidays
• How each of you handles anger, and what happens after an argument
• Household roles and who does what at home

All of our couples clinicians draw on skills from the Gottman Method. In premarital work that usually means learning to notice the patterns that make arguments go badly, such as criticism and defensiveness, and practicing how to repair after a conversation goes sideways.

Prepare/Enrich With Csilla Hajnal

Csilla Hajnal is trained in Prepare/Enrich. It starts with an online assessment each partner completes separately. It maps the relationship across areas such as communication, conflict, finances, family and expectations, and shows where you already agree and where you see things differently. Csilla then uses the results to guide sessions, so the work starts from your actual relationship rather than a generic checklist.

There is no separate fee for the Prepare/Enrich assessment. You pay only for your sessions.

Faith, If You Want It: Christian Premarital Counseling With Katharine Kilpatrick

Some couples want their Christian faith to be part of preparing for marriage. Katharine Kilpatrick, LMFTA, offers Christian counseling for couples, including premarital couples, and can bring your faith into the conversation about commitment, family and the life you are building together. This is at your request. If you would rather keep faith out of it, sessions are not faith-based, and you can see any of our South Carolina couples clinicians.

Katharine is trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT Level 1). With couples, that means paying close attention to how each of you reaches for the other, and what happens when one of you feels unheard.

Second Marriages and Blended Families

If one or both of you has been married before, or you are bringing children into the marriage, there is more to plan for. Couples in this position often want time on co-parenting with a former partner, how stepparenting roles will work, and money that is already shared with others, such as child support or a home from an earlier marriage. Premarital counseling gives you time to talk these through first.

How It Works by Video

1. Call (843) 699-6220 or use our contact form, and tell us you are looking for premarital counseling in South Carolina.
2. We match you with a South Carolina couples clinician. You can ask for Csilla or Katharine by name.
3. If you want to know whether your plan covers anything, we can verify your benefits free. This step is optional.
4. Your first session is an intake by secure video, 45 to 50 minutes, with both of you there.

Evening appointments are available for South Carolina couples. You can join from one room or from two, as long as both of you are in South Carolina during the session. There is no set number of sessions.

Columbia, Greenville, Charleston and Across South Carolina

We work with couples in Columbia and the Midlands, Greenville and the Upstate, and Charleston and the Lowcountry, including Mount Pleasant and Summerville, all by secure video. Our Greenville address is 141 Traction Street, Greenville, SC 29611. It is an office address, not a place for in-person sessions.

Couples in the Midlands can read more about couples and marriage counseling in Columbia, and couples in the Upstate about couples counseling in Greenville. Our South Carolina page covers everything else we offer in the state, and you can read about the clinicians who work here.

Cost and Insurance

Premarital counseling is a couples session, so self-pay is $175 for 45 to 50 minutes, or $200 to $250 for an extended 90-minute couples session. There is no separate fee for the Prepare/Enrich assessment.

Health insurance pays to treat a diagnosed condition. Premarital counseling prepares two people for a marriage. In most cases there is nothing to diagnose, so there is nothing to put on a claim, and we will not add a diagnosis to make a claim fit.

You can pay with an HSA or FSA card. Whether a premarital session counts as an eligible expense is a question for your plan administrator. If you have out-of-network benefits, we can give you a superbill, but without a diagnosis most plans will not reimburse premarital sessions. If you later want couples therapy, in South Carolina we are in network with Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare (including UMR plans) and Tricare. Our premarital counseling page has more on cost.

Premarital Counseling Questions

Do we have to be in South Carolina?

Yes. Both of you need to be physically in South Carolina at the time of each session, because that is where your clinician is licensed to work with you.

Can we do premarital counseling from two places?

Yes, as long as both places are in South Carolina. Some couples join from the same couch, and others from two homes or two offices.

Do we have to be engaged?

No. Couples who are thinking about engagement, or who have been together for years and are now planning to marry, are welcome.

Is faith required? Can you include it?

It is not required. If you want your Christian faith included, ask for Katharine Kilpatrick. If you do not, sessions are not faith-based.

Does insurance cover premarital counseling?

Usually not. Insurance covers treatment for a diagnosed condition, and premarital counseling is preparation, not treatment. Most couples pay privately, at $175 per 45 to 50 minute session.

Is there a separate fee for Prepare/Enrich?

No. The assessment is included, and you pay only for the sessions you attend.

How soon can we start?

Most people are seen within a week.

Getting Started

Call (843) 699-6220 or contact us. Ask for Csilla or Katharine by name, or tell us a little about the two of you and we will match you with a South Carolina couples clinician.