PAIR Testing & 3 Counseling Sessions Intr

Three counseling sessions with an unmarried but engaged heterosexual couple ("Anne" age 24 and "Dave" age 27) were held. The PAIR Test, described below, was administered and the results are attached. These counseling sessions fall under the general category of premarital counseling for couples.

Premarital counseling is highly recommended by social workers, psychologists, ministers and other religious leaders, and even divorce attorneys and judges. Groom (2001) stated that outside of premarital counseling offered under the aegis of various religious denominations, including the Roman Catholic Church, there are relatively few formal premarital counseling programs available. Developing a theory of premarital counseling should move from an identification of what leads individuals to marriage, what they expect from marriage, and what they value and devalue in a mate. Such a theory should also focus on expectations regarding children, parenting, finance, work outside of the home, social relations, and sexuality (Martin, Specter, Martin, & Martin, 2003).

The theory employed herein is a theory of cognitive-behavioral counseling in which the goal of premarital counseling is to move from an identification of the issues described briefly above to assisting clients in assessing their own needs and interests and redirecting cognitive schema toward mutually supportive and beneficial lifestyle choices, behaviors, and attitu

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d that those wishes were his as well. Both parties reported that their relationships with the rival mothers were less tense and that they themselves were more relaxed and comfortable with one another. However, in making their secondary list of concerns that they felt should be addressed prior to marriage, Ann learned that Dave was determined to delay having children until he felt that his career was sufficiently advanced and that they had achieved some financial growth and stability. This was upsetting to Ann, who felt that she was "ready" to have children and that Dave û who had told her he wanted children û had not been as forthcoming about his preferences as was desirable. The couple discussed their individual feelings on this issue for some time, with no resolution. I suggested that they consider creating a plan for "when" childbirth would be desirable and that they both recognize that each had valid arguments on their "side." During this session, we also completed and scored the PAIR test (Psychological Audit of Interpersonal Relationship) (Mastin, 1993). This test has the potential to identify possible areas in which conflict within a relationship might emerge, and in this particular case precisely such a situ
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Approximate Word count = 2520
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)