Personality-Focused Therapy for unmarried couples or soon-to-be married couples offered in a group format.
Now you and your partner can get all the information and support of Personality Focused Therapy for couples with greater scheduling flexibility and at a lower cost. This group may be just right for you if you and your partner are looking for pre-marital counseling, assessing your compatibility with one another, or trying to discern whether or not to stay together for the long-term. Because this is offered in a group format, you will have the chance to learn from the experiences of other couples with similar and opposite types to you and your partner.
The Therapy
Adult group therapy sessions are for clients aged 18 years old and up.
Personality-Focused Therapy (PFT) is a new therapy developed by Dr. McMaster. The focus in PFT for premarried and unmarried couples will first be on understanding the make-up of your personality (e.g., its structure, its strengths and weaknesses) and the make-up of your partner’s personality. Second, you and your partner will apply what you discover about each other’s wiring to answer specific questions about the relationship or to solve specific problems in your relationship. The goal of therapy is not to get your partner to be more like you or to change their personality, but to know yourself and your partner so well that you both feel equipped to make any important relationship decision that you are facing or will face.
PFT for premarried and unmarried couples does not require an enormous amount of time on homework or an undetermined long-term financial commitment from you, as can be the case with other therapies, and clients typically experience positive results after just a few sessions. The focus in sessions will be on solutions, not problems, so you will never be asked to fight with each other for observation or to bring up the past if neither of you thinks it will be helpful.
Dr. McMaster is a Christian psychologist, and PFT is grounded in Christian psychological theories of personality and psychotherapy as well as secular psychological theories that Dr. McMaster finds compatible with the Christian worldview. Christian clients looking for a distinctly Christian couples therapy will feel right at home discussing Scripture and faith in their PFT sessions. However, this is not a requirement, so clients who are not Christians can also benefit from PFT.
What to Expect
Clients who are currently active at the practice (i.e., you have not been discharged from care at the practice) are not required to complete another intake session. Partners of active clients will be oriented to therapy in the active client’s regular sessions before the two of you attend a group session together. Make your next appointment now.
When you and your partner are ready to make an appointment, you will be directed to schedule your intake session online and to complete prerequisite paperwork. Although you will be doing group therapy, your intake session will be completed privately as a couple. An intake session is 55 minutes long and will focus on obtaining background information about you and your partner, answering questions about the therapy, reviewing policies and procedures, and determining if group therapy at the practice will be a good fit for you and your partner given your history, needs, and goals.
After your intake, you and your partner will complete two steps. First, you will both complete a personality assessment online at home. Second, you will attend a group core session where you will review the key educational material for the group maintenance sessions.
Once those steps are complete, you and your partner will be ready to join in any group maintenance session. In a maintenance session, you will discuss your personality assessment results, apply the key educational material that you learned in your core session, and get intensive feedback to help you maintain your therapy gains.
This is an open group, which means you can drop in as often or as infrequently as you need to. This also means new couples can join the group at any time and not worry about having missed prior sessions. Partners must attend all sessions together.
Sessions will be held via video chat on a secure portal made specifically for teletherapy. You will not be required to bring anything to your sessions. Read over the FAQ and Rates & Insurance pages for more information on session logistics and payment.
Quick Details
Number of Sessions
Intake
1 session, completed for each couple and required for new clients or clients returning after discharge
Core Phase
1 session, for new couples only and required for maintenance sessions
Maintenance Phase
Unlimited, attend any session as needed
Meets at 5:00 PM on the following Mondays: Sep 8, Oct 6, Nov 3, Dec 1, Dec 29
Length of Sessions
55 minutes
Cost per Session
Intake $262, per couple
Group sessions (includes core session and maintenance sessions) $65.50, per couple
How to Book an Appointment
Book your intake online. Your core session will be booked during your intake session.