The Promise of Marriage
Twelve guided conversations for couples preparing for marriage, with a capstone and eleven bonus lessons on the hard places couples meet.
With The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Zopoula, DMin, MACP, CCC, PsyD(c)
Most couples spend a year preparing for a wedding and an afternoon preparing for a marriage.The Promise of Marriage exists to change that ratio.
For couples who want to be ready for more than the wedding day
Over twelve weeks you talk through the things couples tend to avoid until they are already hurting: your family stories, how each of you reaches for love, the dance you fall into when you feel far apart, money, roles, sex, faith and the long road ahead.
Engaged couples
Every conversation is shaped for the months before a wedding, so you begin your marriage with a shared map.
Newly married couples
Each lesson includes a way to adapt it if you have already said I do. It is never too late to have these conversations.
Pastors and counsellors
Use it alongside premarital counselling. Couples watch and practice at home, then bring their workbook to your session.
Everything you need to walk through it together
Illustrated video lessons
A welcome video and twelve narrated conversations, each with a big idea, the ironies of love, a pastoral pause and one clear practice for the week.
The Participant Manual
A full workbook with questionnaires, a family map, a cycle map, love languages, a money snapshot and a conflict covenant. One copy for each partner.
Couple conversations
Guided questions to answer on your own first, then together. Phones in a basket, a cup of tea, no rushing.
The Capstone: Co-Missioned
Write a one-page mission for your marriage and learn to use it to make real decisions together.
Eleven hard places
Bonus lessons on safety, trauma, anger, shame, desire, pornography, affairs, addiction, children, in-laws and the seasons that change a marriage.
A course community
Lessons live in Circle Psychology Academy on Skool, where you can share a takeaway and come back any time.
One conversation a week
Walk through them in order. Each one opens with a short video and closes with a question: so what is your best takeaway from today?
Before You Say I Do
The map, the ground, and the road between two ditches.
Defining Marriage
A sacred space, a calling, and a covenant of equals.
The Setting of Your Story
Family of origin, critical scenes, leaving and cleaving.
How We Reach for Each Other
Safe haven, secure base, and the lens you live through.
The Dance
Cycles, the emotions beneath them, and standing together.
Hundred to None
Primary love, the five love gifts, and giving without a hook.
Connect Before You Correct
Soulful presence, friendship, and the trap of problem solving.
Doing Relationship with Style
Personal styles, differences, and the art of story listening.
Conflict That Builds
Four corroding habits, flooding, repair, and problems that stay.
Roles, Needs and Money
Expectations, decisions, and one household plan.
The Sacrament of Touch
Affection, sexual intimacy, and five doors into closeness.
A Cord of Three Strands
Faith, community, seasons, and the long road ahead.
Eleven hard places in marriage
Every marriage meets hard places. These bonus lessons go deeper, drawing on research, Scripture and decades of counselling. Read the ones that touch your story now, and keep the others for later.
- AWhen Love Is Not Safe
- BWhen Trauma Lives in the Marriage
- CWhen Anger Turns to Rage
- DWhen Shame and Guilt Weigh Heavy
- EWhen Desire Does Not Match
- FWhen Pornography Comes Between You
- GWhen an Affair Breaks the Covenant
- HWhen One Partner Struggles with Addiction
- IWhen Children Are Pulled into the Middle
- JWhen Parents and In-Laws Are Too Involved
- KWhen Life Changes the Marriage
Four streams, one conversation
Pastoral experience
More than four decades of walking with couples before and after their weddings, and the book The All-for-Nothing Marriage.
Attachment science
How human beings bond, what happens when a bond feels threatened, and how couples find their way back to each other.
Couples research
What stable, happy couples do differently in friendship, conflict and repair, explained in plain language.
Covenant love
The Christian story of covenant runs underneath everything. If you do not share the faith, you are welcome, and every tool works for any couple willing to use it.
Three steps, one payment
Join the Academy
Click Enrol now and join Circle Psychology Academy on Skool. Joining is free.
Open the Classroom
Choose The Promise of Marriage from the Classroom tab.
Unlock the course
Pay once, $197 USD, through secure checkout. The course is yours to keep, and you can return to it any time.
Frequently asked
Do we each need to buy the course?
No. One purchase is for the two of you. Each partner should have their own copy of the Participant Manual, which you can download inside the course.
How long does it take?
Plan on one conversation a week for about twelve weeks. You can go faster or slower, and you keep access after you finish.
Is this counselling?
No. The course is education and formation for couples, and it works best alongside a counsellor or pastor. It is not a replacement for therapy, medical care or crisis help. Premarital counselling is available at Circle Psychology.
We are already married. Is it for us?
Yes. Every conversation includes a short section on how to adapt it if you are already married, and the eleven bonus lessons speak to couples at every stage.
We do not share the Christian faith. Can we take it?
Yes. The course is written from a Christian perspective, and the Scripture and prayer sections are offered as an invitation. Every tool works for any couple willing to use it.
Can a pastor or counsellor use it with couples?
Yes. A Facilitator Manual is available for pastors and counsellors who guide couples through the course. Contact Circle Psychology to ask about it.
Say yes to getting ready
You have said yes to someone. The Promise of Marriage helps you say yes to the habits that keep two people close for a lifetime.
Enrol now for $197This course is for couples who feel safe with each other. If either of you is afraid of the other, please set the couple exercises aside and speak with a counsellor alone. In Alberta, call or text the Family Violence Info Line at 310-1818. In an emergency, call 911. For a suicide crisis, call or text 988. Courses are educational and do not replace assessment or treatment by your own clinician.