ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to help couples get a better start to their marriage by accomplishing early marriage developmental tasks that make them less at-risk for future marital problems. The developmental tasks were first described by David Mace as part of the stages of early marriage. They should be accomplished in the mutual adjustment stage of early marriage and include competently dealing with seven important issues. The process of helping a couple accomplish the tasks is mainly preventive in nature, that is couples who accomplish the tasks early in their marriage lower their risks of developing problems later. The clinician’s aims are to structure several therapy sessions to discuss with the couple the definition of early marriage developmental tasks, and a description of each, to help the couple assess if they have accomplished each task.
