Relational Wellness for the modern couple.
Premarital & preventative online counseling for couples in Austin & across Texas
Welcome!
You’re in the right place if:
You understand the importance of starting this next chapter of your life on the right foot and are looking for a structured guide to help protect your relationship’s future.
You want to make sure you are ready for both the “big day” and for all the days after.
You’re looking for a nonjudgmental counselor you can be honest with, someone who understands the realities and complexities of being in a modern relationship.
You want to prepare for future milestones as well as build healthy day-to-day habits.
What We Do
Customize evidence-based tools to help you understand and empower your patterns of relating.
Foster intimacy by strengthening foundations based in your shared values.
Explore the essential cornerstones of successful lifelong partnerships.
Hear Lauren explain how she helps couples
Meet Your Counselor
Lauren is practical, professional, and passionate about preventative relational health. Texas Premarital Counseling was started because Lauren realized couples who are going through exciting life changes were being drastically underserved. Historically, couples have waited 6 years of being reportedly unhappy in their relationships before seeking out counseling services. This statistic broke Lauren’s heart and motivated her to build a new space for couples who wanted to prioritize writing an intentionally healthier story. Lauren is enthusiastic about working with couples who are excited about and committed to their relationship, who understand the privilege of partnership, and who are ready to be thoughtful about their growth together.
So few people are ever taught about healthy relationships and the evidence-based practices which make them thrive. This is where Lauren steps in: she provides a structured space for couples to comprehensively explore cornerstone principles and crucial topics of effective long-term relationships. She balances this with the knowledge that every person is the expert of their own lived experience, and so she prioritizes customization and meeting couples where they are. Lauren primarily works with couples on a short-term basis, typically meeting for 8 weekly sessions. The objective of this type of couples counseling is to help partners get to a place where they feel empowered by the tools they establish in counseling and can confidently continue their relationship’s growth without the counselor.
How does this actually work?
Great question! One of the best things about working with Texas Premarital Counseling is that your experience will be completely customized for your unique needs. Many couples coming to premarital counseling aren’t sure where to start. With that in mind, we have built the following 8-session structure in order for couples to productively and comprehensively begin their exploration together:
Session One: Your Relationship’s Story
Thorough assessment, exploring individual and shared histories, identifying strengths and focus areas, setting goals for premarital counseling
Session Two: Family of Origin
Culture, beliefs, values, family structures, traditions
Session Three: Individual Wellness
Stress management, personal needs, differences, advocating for each other
Sessions Four & Five: Communication
Patterns and cycles, tools, conflict resolution strategies
Session Six & Seven: Expressing Affection
Love languages, intimacy and sex, trust and boundaries
Session Eight: Goals
Roles and expectations, equity, finances, family planning
FAQs
Our relationship is great, why do we need premarital counseling?
The importance of preventative care can be easy to overlook.
In reality, even if you have been dating for a “long time”, your relationship is still in its infancy. The tools (or lack thereof) that have served you thus far may not be adequate for the subsequent chapters of your shared life. You want your relationship to be stronger 50 years from now, and premarital counseling is a great way to set yourself on that course.
The vast majority of people never receive formal education about healthy relationships and are left struggling to guess, observe, and patchwork together ways of relating. So much relational pain occurs from a lack of tools and knowledge; this does not have to be the case!
Even if your current relationship is thriving, you or your partner may (knowingly or unknowingly) be carrying dormant bad habits from past relationships (partnerships, family of origin, etc.) that could pop up and wreak havoc. Building awareness can help you manage triggers and make empowered responses rather than maladaptive reactions.
Are there any other benefits of premarital counseling?
In addition to the valuable tools, confidence, and deepened connection couples gain, completion of 8 hours of premarital counseling allows Texas Premarital Counseling to provide a Twogether In Texas certificate to present to your county clerk in order to waive the $60 marriage license fee and the 72 hour waiting period.
What types of clients are typically the best fit for your services?
All of my clients are committed partners who care about their relationship and recognize that it is an incredibly valuable part of their lives that deserves continual care and attention.
The vast majority of my clients, despite being in loving and overall happy relationships, recognize room for exploration and/or improvement in certain areas.
Most of my clients are busy young professionals, who are trying to juggle careers, social lives, family expectations, wedding planning, their relationship, and oftentimes pet/home ownership… It's a lot and they’re tired!
I have also worked successfully with couples who are navigating major decisions such as whether or not to move in together, get engaged, or start a family.
I refer out couples who have signs of intimate partner violence, infidelity, and/or mental health concerns such as suicidality, homicidality, psychosis, or substance abuse; these types of work are not within the scope of my practice.
How do we meet for sessions?
Because Texas Premarital Counseling is an online only practice, we’ll meet virtually through a HIPAA compliant platform called SecureVideo. This allows us to provide convenient, quality care to couples in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and all of small town Texas.
What is the financial investment?
Premarital counseling is offered as an 8 counseling-hour package for $1500.
If you prefer to pay as you go, services are $200 per 50-minute counseling hour.
The package is offered as a convenience and also provides a $100 discount.
Due to the preventative nature of our work, we are unable to bill insurance.
Do we have to be engaged to benefit from premarital counseling?
Nope! I understand that not all life partnerships gravitate towards marriage. I work with committed partners who are serious about their future together, regardless of their labels.
I also recognize that many newlyweds did not make time for premarital counseling during their engagement and are interested in doing the work after they are married.
Are you lgbtq+ affirming?
Absolutely! My work is centered around helping all clients feel empowered and authentic in their relationships with themselves, their partners, and their world. I recognize that my niche has historically been particularly unsafe for the gender diverse and sexually expansive communities at large and I am actively working to dismantle that.
What are your credentials?
I graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Psychology, earned my Masters in Counseling at St. Edward’s University, and maintain full licensure from the State of Texas as both a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#202959) and a Licensed Professional Counselor (#77956). I am also a Level 2 Gottman Couples Therapist and Bringing Baby Home educator.
“An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure”
— Benjamin Franklin
“The grass is greener where you water it”
— Neil Barringham