Save Your Marriage Before It Starts: Why I Love Using SYMBIS with Engaged Couples in North Kansas City, Missouri -by Taylor Esworthy, PLMFT

Marriage preparation isn't about predicting failure. It's about building a stronger foundation for lifelong success. Through the SYMBIS assessment, couples gain valuable insight into themselves, each other, and the relationship they are creating together.

When couples get engaged, it's easy to become consumed by wedding planning. Venues, guest lists, flowers, invitations, and honeymoon plans often take center stage. While those details are important, the most important thing you're preparing for isn't the wedding day. It's the marriage that comes after it.

As a therapist providing premarital counseling in North Kansas City, I often see couples invest significant time preparing for their wedding day but very little time preparing for the marriage itself.

As a Marriage and Family Therapist, one of my favorite ways to work with engaged couples is through SYMBIS, which stands for Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts.

I frequently use the SYMBIS assessment as part of premarital counseling for engaged couples in Kansas City, North Kansas City, and throughout Missouri.

SYMBIS is a research-based premarital assessment designed to help couples better understand themselves, each other, and the relationship they are building together. Rather than waiting until problems arise years down the road, SYMBIS helps couples have meaningful conversations now, before they walk down the aisle.

The goal isn't to find reasons not to get married. The goal is to strengthen your relationship, identify areas for growth, and equip you with tools that can support your marriage for years to come. That's where SYMBIS comes in.

Many couples seek premarital counseling because they want to strengthen communication, navigate differences more effectively, discuss finances, and enter marriage with greater confidence. The SYMBIS assessment is one of my favorite tools because it helps couples have these important conversations before they become sources of stress or conflict later in marriage.

What Is SYMBIS?

SYMBIS begins with an online assessment that each partner completes individually. Through my SYMBIS facilitator account, I provide each partner with a link to complete the assessment at their own pace.

The assessment explores several important areas, including:

● General information about you and your relationship● Family of origin experiences● Relationship history● Personality and individual strengths● Attitudes and expectations about marriage● Communication styles● Conflict patterns● Financial perspectives● Spiritual beliefs and values● Sexual expectations and intimacy● Social support systems● Emotional well-being

After the assessment is completed, a personalized report is generated. We then meet together to discuss the results, explore strengths, and identify opportunities for growth.

What Does SYMBIS Cover?

One of the things I love most about SYMBIS is that it helps couples have meaningful conversations before they walk down the aisle. The assessment explores a wide range of topics that influence a relationship, including family of origin experiences, marriage momentum, expectations about marriage, emotional well-being, social support, finances, communication, conflict, intimacy, spirituality, and personality differences. These conversations help couples better understand themselves, each other, and the relationship they are building together.

One area many couples find especially helpful is Marriage Momentum, which looks at the direction of your relationship and identifies both strengths and potential growth areas. SYMBIS also explores your mindset toward marriage, helping uncover expectations and assumptions that may have been shaped by family experiences, culture, or previous relationships. In addition, the assessment highlights the importance of individual well-being because healthy relationships are built by people who are committed to their own personal growth and emotional health.

The financial section is another valuable part of the process and is often one of the most impactful parts of premarital counseling for engaged couples. As a Systemic Financial Professional, I enjoy helping couples explore not only their financial habits and goals but also the experiences and beliefs that influence how they view money. Many financial disagreements are rooted in deeper values, fears, and family messages about money, and understanding those influences can help couples approach finances as a team.

Conversations about budgeting, spending, saving, debt, financial priorities, and long-term goals can help couples better understand one another and approach finances as a team. For many engaged couples, these discussions provide valuable insight before marriage and help create a stronger financial foundation for the future.

Finally, SYMBIS creates space to discuss topics that many couples avoid or assume will simply work themselves out, including communication, conflict, love, intimacy, gender roles, and spirituality. These conversations often lead to greater understanding, stronger connection, and practical tools that couples can carry into marriage. Rather than waiting for problems to emerge, SYMBIS helps couples proactively build a strong foundation for the future.

Why Couples Find SYMBIS So Valuable

As a therapist, I love that SYMBIS is not about finding flaws. It is about increasing awareness.

The assessment helps couples understand:

● What they are doing well● Where they may experience challenges● How family history influences their relationship● How to communicate more effectively● How to navigate differences with greater understanding● How to build a stronger foundation for marriage

Perhaps most importantly, it helps couples begin marriage with curiosity, honesty, and a shared commitment to growth.

Ready to Invest in Your Future Marriage?

Whether you're newly engaged, planning your wedding, or simply talking seriously about marriage, premarital counseling can be one of the most valuable investments you make in your relationship.

Through the SYMBIS assessment and our sessions together, you'll gain practical tools, deeper insight, and meaningful conversations that can strengthen your relationship long after the wedding day.

Because preparing for a wedding lasts a season.

Preparing for a marriage can last a lifetime.

If you're located in North Kansas City, Kansas City, or anywhere in Missouri and are interested in completing the SYMBIS assessment as part of premarital counseling, I would love to support you as you build a strong foundation for the future. Whether you're newly engaged or preparing for your wedding day, premarital counseling can provide valuable insight, practical tools, and meaningful conversations that can strengthen your relationship for years to come.

About Taylor Esworthy, PLMFT

Taylor Esworthy is a Provisionally Licensed Marrital and Family Therapist and Systemic Financial Professional at Renewal Family Therapy in North Kansas City, Missouri. She works with individuals and couples and

has a special interest in premarital counseling, relationship enrichment, financial concerns, communication, and helping couples build healthy, lasting relationships.