Meet Kristen Franzen, MA, LMHC, LPC, NCC
Kristen Franzen wrote and teaches the Georgia premarital course on this site. She is a licensed counselor, an ordained minister and the founder and clinical director of Cadenza Counseling LLC.
Years of one-on-one therapy behind the course
Before building online courses, Kristen spent years working with clients in live, one-on-one therapy. Her clinical work centers on family dynamics, emotional development and conflict resolution: helping people talk without escalating, handle hard emotions and stay steady through big life changes.
Engaged couples rarely have the time or money for weeks of counseling before the wedding. So she took the most useful evidence-based tools from her practice and built a self-paced course couples can finish together, from home, in the 6 hours Georgia asks for.
Why she can teach Georgia premarital education
Georgia's law, O.C.G.A. 19-3-30.1, lists who may provide premarital education. One category is an active member of the clergy, in the course of their service as clergy. Kristen is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church and teaches Georgia couples under that clergy provision. She reviews every Georgia completion and signs each certificate herself; each one is then notarized.
Credentials you can check
- Clergy: Ordained minister, Universal Life Church.
- Florida: Licensed Mental Health Counselor, license MH22317. Look it up on the Florida Department of Health license search.
- National: National Certified Counselor, NCC #1727660.
- Texas: Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC #97926.
- Other states: Colorado (LPC 0019499), Pennsylvania (LPC PC016512), Louisiana (LPC 10219), Arizona (LPC 23358), North Carolina (LPC 20928), Missouri (LPC 2023037577), Tennessee (LPC 8036), Minnesota (LPCC CC04980).
How she built the course
You will not sit through dry academic lectures. Each lesson gives you something to use together the same week: how to talk about money, how to fight fair and repair afterward, and how to set boundaries with family.
Couples are different, so the course comes in three versions:
- Standard
- Faith-Friendly
- Inclusive (LGBTQ+ couples)
All three are 6 hours and come with the same mailed, notarized certificate.
How we keep this site accurate
Every rule on this site comes from a primary source: the text of O.C.G.A. 19-3-30.1 and the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia. We recheck them when the law or probate court practice changes. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected] and we will fix it.
Reviewed by Kristen Franzen, LMHC. Facts checked against O.C.G.A. 19-3-30.1 and the Council of Probate Court Judges of Georgia. Last updated .