Pre-Union Counseling: A Call to Action

ABSTRACT

Premarital counseling with heterosexual couples has been discussed with frequency in the counseling literature; however, little has been written about strategies and practices to serve same-sex couples planning to enter life partnerships. This article provides an overview of pre-union counseling, a new specialization designed to provide preventive, relationship-enhancing counseling to same-sex couples who are planning to marry or partner. A review of the premarital counseling and same-sex couples counseling literature serves as a foundation for pre-union counseling recommendations (content areas, goals, and format) with gay male and lesbian couples. Future research and scholarship needs regarding pre-union counseling also are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Pre-union counseling
• couples counseling
• gay
• lesbian
• premarital counseling

Dr. Shurts would like to recognize and thank his graduate research assistant, Kelly Kuehn, for her help in the preparation of this article.