Pre-marital evaluation and counselling service
Introduction
Marriage is an important thing in life. From courting to considering marriage, the lovers will think of many issues – their expectations in marriage, compatibility of their characters, management of finances in marriage, family planning, and so on.
Over the years, the Marriage Enrichment Retreat (MER) events conducted by MFFC have helped renewing the relationship of many couples. MFFC also provides comprehensive support and care for lovers going through different stages, from developing a stable relationship during courtship, through making decision and preparing for marriage to the different stages in married life. MFFC’s Pre-marital Evaluation and Counselling Service are conducted by professionals. It involves a “PREPARE/ENRICH” course designed for man and woman before getting married and three counselling sessions to help them getting prepared and adjusted.
This pre-marital evaluation and counselling service is not to supplant but to complement the pre-marital counselling provided by church pastors to fully equip man and woman for entering into marriage.
PREPARE/ENRICH course
This course was developed by the chairman, Dr. David H. Olson , of Life Innovations Inc. in the USA in the 1980s. It provides a set of reliable, effective and simple-to-use tools for pre-marital and marital counselling and relationship building. This set of tools can be used to evaluate comprehensively the relationship of married couple or man and woman in love. It helps them to recognise the strengths and areas to work on in their relationship, and to have effective communication and be able to handle differences through counselling and practical exercise. Life Innovations Inc. has offices worldwide. Over two million married couples or men and women in love have gone through this course. Please visit www.prepare-enrich.com for more information.
Contents of the course:
Test: There is an on-line PREPARE/ENRICH quiz. After the quiz, a report on the analysis of the answers to the quiz is sent to MFFC.
Counselling: Based on the analysis in the report and the needs of the counselees, the counsellor will apportion emphasis to the following in the counselling sessions.
- To recognise the strengths and areas to work on in the relationship
- The interworking of roles and mutual expectation
- The key to good communication
- Handling and resolving conflict
- To understand original family and its influence, and dealing with in-laws
- Expectation and matching in sex life
- Financial planning
- To set goals and plans as an individual, a couple and a family
Each session takes 60 to 90 minutes.
Conducting languages: Cantonese/Mandarin
Profile of counsellors:
Sydney
Profile of counsellor
Anselm Chow
| Language: | Mandarin, Cantonese, English |
| Gender: | Male |
| Membership: | Professional member of American Counselling Association |
| Background: | Master in Marriage and Family Counselling, SWBTS, USA Former senior psychological counsellor of Hong Kong Baptist University Former lecturer (part time) of counselling course of Hong Kong Baptist University and Bethel Bible Seminary of Hong Kong Former advisor of Breakthrough Counselling Centre and Bethel Counselling Centre of Hong Kong Director of Interpersonal Connect, Australia |
| Specialty: | Marriage counselling, pre-marital counselling, psychological counselling and therapy |
Iris Yip
| Language: | Cantonese, English |
| Gender: | Female |
| Membership: | Clinical Member, Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) |
| Background: | Master of Counselling, Morling College; Graduate Diploma of Emotionally Focused Therapy, Institute for Emotionally Focused Therapy |
| Specialty: | Marriage counselling, pre-marital counselling, personal counselling |
Brisbane
Profile of counsellor
Connie Hon
| Language: | Mandarin, Cantonese, English |
| Gender: | Female |
| Membership: | Clinical Member of Christian Counsellors Association of Australia Clinical Member of Psychotherapy & Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) |
| Background: | MA (TESOL), BA (Ed), Postgraduate Certificate in Counselling & Family Therapy NHA Certified Trainer |
| Specialty: | Marriage counselling, pre-marital counselling, family therapy, parents coaching, mental health |
Melbourne
Profile of counsellor
Alice Wong
| Language: | Mandarin, Cantonese, English |
| Gender: | Female |
| Membership: | Clinical Member of Christian Counsellors Association of Australia Clinical Member of Psychotherapy & Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) |
| Background: | Graduate certificate of Counselling and Family Therapy, Master of Pastoral Counselling (Taiwan), Former pastor in church’s children ministry |
| Specialty: | Marriage counselling, pre-marital counselling, family therapy, mental health, personal counselling |