Want your marriage counseling journey to be a success?

"We are a couple that helps and guides couples on a relationship journey. That is why we built Marriage1st.com..."

- Tildie and Fred de Villiers

Where do you want to be? Let's get you there!

Before we share our qualifications and credentials (you can verify it here), let's make sure you know what you will get here. 

What you will get from us:

You are here because you are looking for info on some or all things marriage counseling.

It's not something you look for on a regular basis and when you do chances are you are not in a great space or you are just OK and...

You want to get better.

You want to be awesome.

You want to heal, save your relationship or fix it.

You want all the good stuff, great advice, and the power to make the best choice possible!

You will get that here. We got you. 

Why can we be so sure?

We've been there, done that, got the scars...

We were also where you are now.

Looking for answers. For the right type of counseling. Wondering how it all works. Not sure whether to try it, Not knowing what it will cost, where to start, who to trust, what to do...

So many questions and things we didnt know!

Yet, we found answers, found love again, started having a marriage adventure and got back to awesome.

That is why we can help you at this crucial stage you find yourself. 

And if you leave not feeling that, let us know because then there is something we left out and we want to learn from you what that is!

What makes us different?

You will find a lot of bigger sites focusing on counseling and psychology but none of those will focus specifically on marriage counseling.

We are not a "one-stop shop" for all things psychology and counseling!

We are here for married couples. We are here for you!

This focus allows us to give YOU exactly what you need. 

We can also guarantee personal attention to everything you get here.

Other sites will have many people writing, compiling and aggregating info. Some will use AI to produce hundreds of articles with info that is impersonal, generalised, all over the place and only there to please the search engines. 

We do things differently.

Each article, each link, each piece of advice receives our personal attention. We know that is what you deserve!

At marriage1st.com we give your concerns, your questions and the problems you want to solve our personal attention and we do it from a place of having been there and done it all ourselves.

Why can we serve you like this?

Because we have experienced exactly the same, looked for the same answers, got the right answers and have helped many others to find the answers too. 

Do yourself a favour and compare our site to others out there.

Nowhere else will you find our laser focus on the topic of "marriage counseling" and nowhere else will you find the personal advice you will get here!

Our qualifications, accreditation and formal education

Relationship - and Life Coaching Credentials:

ILS Master Coach (ICF)

Fred is a qualified and registered InnerLifeSkills (ILS) Master Coach specializing in a Relationship - ,Life - and Enneagram Coaching. 

Click here to verify the coaching certification.

International Coaching
Federation Accreditation 

The ILS Master Coach certification is  accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) having met the highest and most stringent international standards and requirements.

Click here to verify the ICF accreditation

Relationship - and Marriage Counseling Credentials:

Professional Couples/Marriage Therapist (Advanced)

Tildie is an international qualified and certified Relationship and Marriage Counselor (Imago Advanced Couples Therapist) with Imago Relationships Worldwide (IRW) and a registered member of Imago Africa and Imago Relationships Worldwide (IRW).

Click here to verify the credentials on the official site.

Professional
Relationship Facilitator

Fred is an internationally qualified and certified Professional Relationship Facilitator with Imago Relationships Worldwide (IRW) and a member of Imago Africa and Imago Relationships Worldwide.

Professional Couples
Workshop Facilitators

We are also internationally qualified and certified Imago Couples Workshop Facilitators (certified by Imago Relationships Worldwide). 

University Degrees:

Our expertise is backed up by psychology and communication university degrees (at Masters and Honours level): 

Masters Degree in
Psychology (M.A. Psy.)

Tildie is a qualified psychologist who obtained her Masters degree in Psychology in 2009.

Honours Degree in
Communication (B.A.)

Fred obtained an Honours degree in Communication in 1996.

Health Professions Council Accreditation and Licensing

Tildie is officially licensed and legally registered by the Health Professions Council to operate an independent and professional psychological/therapist practice.

Our memberships:

Imago Relationship Worldwide Membership:

Click here for our profile

Membership Listing at TherapyRoute.com:

Click here to verify our listing

Our experience

We have been guiding and coaching couples since 2012, providing marriage counseling and facilitating couples workshops. 

We are paying forward the same guidance, advice and tools we used to save our own marriage!

Our story and mission

In 2012 our own marriage was in serious trouble and we seriously considered divorce.  Only through hard work and commitment were we able to make marriage counseling work.

Since then we have been paying it forward, helping and guiding couples build and rebuild their relationships.

Our story is proof that marriage counseling works!

Marriage1st.com provides you with all the essential info, tips, advice and knowledge you need to make your relationship as good as it can get.

We can do this because we have not only experienced the benefits of marriage counselling first hand; we have also equipped ourselves to help others.

We are proud to say that you will find no better guide for all you need to know about marriage counseling than Marriage1st.com. It will be our privilege to help you. 

Tildie and Fred de Villiers