A SACRED VOW

• Back

Hello! I'm Dr. Lis

I help couples get on the same page, focus on what truly matters, and build a marriage that can withstand the seasons of life.With a doctorate in Clinical Psychology and certifications in SYMBIS and FOCCUS facilitation, I bring together relationship science, practical formation, and the timeless wisdom of the Catholic faith to help couples approach marriage with greater clarity and intention.Too many couples enter marriage with plenty of love and good intentions but little formation.They have planned the wedding. They may have completed marriage preparation. They may even have talked about finances, children, and where they will live. But they often haven't had the deeper conversations that shape how they will actually live a marriage together.What does it mean to have a shared mission?
How will you handle conflict?
What happens when your expectations collide?
How will your faith shape your home?
How will you navigate family, finances, intimacy, children, work, and the ordinary pressures of life without losing sight of each other?A Sacred Vow was created to help couples answer those questions before life forces them to.My mission is simple:To build strong families, one marriage at a time.I believe marriage is not simply about finding the right person or creating a happy life together. Marriage is a vocation—a lifelong call to love, serve, sacrifice, grow, and help one another become the people God is calling you to be.That means a strong marriage requires more than chemistry and good communication. It requires a shared vision. Clear values. Virtue. Boundaries. Responsibility. Forgiveness. Humility. And the willingness to keep growing when life becomes difficult.I work with couples who are seriously dating, preparing for marriage, and navigating the formative early years of marriage. Through coaching, assessments, intensives, and deeper formation experiences, I help couples move beyond surface-level advice and intentionally build the kind of marriage they want to live.The first years of marriage are profoundly formative. The habits you establish, the expectations you carry, the way you handle conflict, and the culture you create in your home will shape far more than your relationship with one another.They will shape your family. Eventually, your family will shape a legacy.I don't believe healthy marriages happen by accident.I believe they are built.And I believe this work matters—not only because marriage matters, but because strong marriages build strong families, and strong families change the world.This is sacred work.Whether you are dating intentionally, preparing for marriage, or navigating the crucible years of early marriage, I am here to help you build with intention rather than leave your marriage to chance.Because pressure doesn't destroy a marriage.It reveals—and refines—it.

• Back

Services

Helping couples strengthen their relationship at every stage.Whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or navigating early family life, A Sacred Vow offers programs to help you build a strong, lasting marriage. Our services combine faith-based guidance, psychology, and practical tools to meet your unique needs.A Sacred Vow Offerings Include:

SYMBIS Marriage Readiness Package

SYMBIS is a research-based premarital assessment designed to help couples better understand the strengths, differences, expectations, and potential areas of growth within their relationship.Through the assessment and guided discussion, couples explore how their personalities, communication patterns, beliefs, family backgrounds, expectations, and approaches to marriage may shape their life together.Rather than waiting for differences to become problems, SYMBIS gives couples the opportunity to identify them early and begin building practical strategies for navigating them together.Best for engaged couples and seriously dating couples who want to enter marriage with greater self-awareness, realistic expectations, and a stronger foundation.SYMBIS can also be incorporated into a broader A Sacred Vow formation experience when couples want to go beyond assessment and put those insights into practice.

Marriage Intensives

A Marriage Intensive provides focused, structured time to work deeply on the areas of your relationship that deserve attention.For engaged couples, an Intensive can provide deeper formation around the topics that will shape married life. For married couples, it can create space to strengthen the relationship, navigate a major transition, or address recurring challenges before they become larger problems.Depending on your needs, we may work on:Communication and conflict
Expectations and roles within marriage
Family of origin and in-law dynamics
Finances and decision-making
Faith and the culture of your home
Intimacy and connection
Parenthood and major life transitions
Shared values, priorities, and vision
Boundaries and healthy patterns within marriageYou do not need to arrive knowing exactly what you need to work on. If you're unsure where to focus, I will help identify the areas that deserve attention and structure our time accordingly.This is not therapy. It is structured coaching and formation designed to help couples move beyond surface-level conversation and make intentional decisions about the marriage they are building.Half-Day and Full-Day Intensives available virtually or in person. Pricing varies by format.

Discernment Coaching

Sometimes the most important question in a relationship is not simply, "How do we make this work?" It is, "Is this the relationship I am called to build my life around?"Discernment Coaching provides structured guidance for individuals or couples who are trying to gain clarity about whether to move forward in a relationship, prepare for marriage, or recognize that stepping away may be the wiser path.We examine compatibility, values, expectations, patterns, concerns, and the realities of the relationship so that important decisions are made with greater honesty and intention rather than fear, pressure, or wishful thinking.This is not about telling you what decision to make. It is about helping you see the relationship clearly enough to make a responsible one.

One-on-One Coaching

Marriage is built by two people, and sometimes one person needs space to work on their own patterns, decisions, or responses within the relationship.
One-on-One Coaching provides individualized support for people who want to become more intentional in how they communicate, handle conflict, establish healthy boundaries, navigate life transitions, and contribute to the health of their relationship.Sessions are practical, focused, and grounded in the belief that personal growth is part of marital growth.This is coaching—not individual therapy—and it is designed for people who are ready to take responsibility for the part of the relationship they can control: themselves.

Retreats

Marriage needs protected time. A couples retreat gives you the opportunity to step away from work, children, responsibilities, and the constant noise of daily life and give your marriage your full attention.Through guided conversations, reflection, practical exercises, and intentional time together, retreats help couples reconnect with one another, examine the health of their relationship, and renew their shared commitment.Retreats may focus on communication, shared vision, faith, connection, life transitions, or other areas that deserve deeper attention.These are not simply weekends away. They are intentional time set apart for the marriage you are building.

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

Strong marriages do not happen by accident, and communities have an important role in forming couples for the vocation of marriage.I offer seminars and speaking engagements for parishes, Catholic organizations, schools, community groups, and other organizations seeking practical formation in marriage and family life.Topics can include communication, conflict, marriage preparation, the early years of marriage, family culture, intentional marriage, virtue, and the practical realities of building a strong family.Presentations draw from relationship science, psychological training, practical experience, and the Catholic understanding of marriage and the human person.Available for parish events, workshops, retreats, marriage ministries, and other group settings.

• Back

Built to Last: The Sacred Vow Signature Experience

Your marriage is too important to leave to chance. Most couples spend months—or years—preparing for a wedding. Far fewer spend that same kind of intentional time preparing to actually live a marriage.Built to Last was created for couples who want something deeper.This is A Sacred Vow's most comprehensive and personalized marriage formation experience: a structured journey designed to help couples build the vision, habits, virtues, skills, and shared culture that will carry their marriage through the formative early years.This is not a quick fix.
It is not crisis counseling.
And it is not simply a collection of communication exercises.It is intentional formation for couples who want to build a marriage with purpose.

Three Phases. One Shared Mission.

PHASE 1 — Marriage on a MissionBefore a couple can build a life together, they need to know what they are building. Together, we establish a shared vision and mission for your marriage and examine the values, expectations, strengths, and differences that will shape your life together.This phase may include:Relationship assessment and guided interpretation
Shared vision and mission
Core values and priorities
Expectations for married life
Family-of-origin influences
Roles and responsibilities
Financial and family goals
The kind of home and family culture you want to createThe goal is not simply to agree on everything. It is to understand what you are building together and why.

PHASE 2 — Sacred StructureA good marriage needs more than a good intention.It needs structure.This phase focuses on the practical systems and habits that allow a marriage to function well through ordinary life and extraordinary seasons.Together, we work through areas such as:Household role and responsibilities
Healthy rhythms of connection
Protecting the Marriage
Decision-making
Extended family and in-law dynamics
Financial stewardship
Friends and Interests
Faith and the domestic church
Creating a culture within your homeWe also examine the virtues that make these structures possible—because knowing what to do is not enough if we have not become the kind of people capable of doing it.

PHASE 3 — Living the Sacred VowA marriage is not built in a workbook. It is built in ordinary life.The final phase focuses on putting what you have learned into practice and developing habits that continue long after the formal program ends.Together, we address areas such as:Deepening friendship and connection
Date nights and intentional time together
Communication in everyday life
Conflict resolution and repair
Understanding how each spouse gives and receives love
Maintaining intimacy through changing seasons
Continuing to grow in virtue
Protecting the marriage from competing priorities
Building a family culture rooted in your shared missionThe goal is not a perfect marriage. The goal is a marriage that knows how to keep growing.

This experience is for couples who...Want to be proactive rather than wait until their marriage is in crisis
Take the vocation of marriage seriously
Want their faith to shape the way they actually live at home
Are willing to examine their own patterns rather than simply identify their spouse's problems
Want to build a shared vision for their marriage and family
Understand that strong marriages require intentional formation
Are willing to do the work between sessions, not simply attend themThis is NOT for couples looking for...A quick fix.
Someone to take their side.
Reassurance that everything will work itself out.
Or a program that promises to make marriage easy.Built to Last requires both spouses to participate honestly and intentionally.Marriage is a vocation of mutual self-gift. That means each spouse has a responsibility not only to ask, "What is my marriage doing for me?" but also, "What kind of spouse am I becoming, and how am I helping my spouse become who God is calling them to be?"

• Book Your Appointment

Frequently Asked questions