Preventive Marriage Counseling

An interesting article in the New York Times discusses efforts by psychologists to assess couples before they need therapy or seek a divorce.  According to the article only 19% of currently married couples have had some counseling and almost two-thirds of married couples divorce without even seeking counseling.  The efforts have led to the development of marriage “checklists” and self-help programs that can identify problems before they turn into something harder to resolve.  These therapies could also be used to reach couples in rural areas where access to a live counselor may be difficult.