I’m a marriage and family therapist, author, speaker, and happily married wife to my husband, Derek Johnson. When I was 16 years old, all I thought about was getting married, and I was convinced that I would be married when I was 18. Well, things didn’t go as I had planned. Since I wasn’t married at 18, my parents convinced me to go to college (thank God). During my studies, I fell in love with the field of marriage and family. I pursued both master’s and doctorate degrees in the field, going straight through and completing eight years of school without any time off (I had no life except for school)! Finally, after multiple boyfriends (lots of Mr. Wrongs), three college degrees and relocating to various states for school and jobs four times, I married the love of my life when I was 29.
During the 17 years of being in the field of marriage and family, I have specialized in premarital education (premarital counseling). I spent my entire doctorate program studying couples and researching what makes couples succeed in marriage. I’ve also studied what makes people feel disconnected in marriage and divorce. If you’re like most people, you would like to lower your chances of divorce and increase the possibilities of having a happy marriage. Fortunately, there’s lots of research demonstrating that successful marriages require each person to use healthy relationship skills, and you can learn those relationship skills right here!
Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I’ve worked with hundreds of couples, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with you. My goal is to help you successfully gain the skills needed to make your marriage happy, healthy, and successful.