Meet Kristen Franzen, MA, LPCC, LMHC, LPC, NCC
Kristen Franzen wrote and teaches the Minnesota 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 12 hours Minnesota asks for.
Why she can teach Minnesota premarital education
Minnesota's law, Minn. Stat. 517.08, lists who may provide premarital education for the reduced license fee: a licensed or ordained minister (or their designee), a person authorized to solemnize marriages, or a licensed marriage and family therapist. Kristen is an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church, and that is the basis on which she teaches Minnesota couples. Her Minnesota counseling license (below) is part of her clinical background, not the legal basis. She reviews every Minnesota completion and signs and dates each Educator's Statement on letterhead herself; each one is then notarized.
Credentials you can check
- Clergy: Ordained minister, Universal Life Church.
- Minnesota: Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, LPCC CC04980. Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy (license lookup).
- Florida: Licensed Mental Health Counselor, license MH22317.
- 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).
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 12 hours and come with the same mailed, notarized Educator's Statement.
How we keep this site accurate
Every rule on this site comes from a primary source: the text of Minnesota Statutes 517.08 and each county's own marriage license page. We recheck them when the law or county practice changes. Spot something out of date? Email info@cadenzacounseling.org and we will fix it.
Reviewed by Kristen Franzen, LPCC. Facts checked against Minnesota Statutes 517.08 and county marriage license offices. Last updated .