Premarital couples therapy

I don't normally read the ThursdayStyles section of The New York Times, but just today I was made aware of this article that features a couple from Amherst, NH of all places (they happen to both be teachers at my former high school). The link provided does not access the entire article, however, the gist of the story can be summed up in this paragraph.

Once seen as the province of married people with accrued stock in resentment and stale sex lives, couples therapy for the unmarried has evolved as an acceptable, even desirable, way of navigating modern love for those in their 20's and 30's. Aware of the high price of divorce, comfortable with the idea of therapy in general and free from cultural pressures to rush down the aisle, modern couples are turning to professionals earlier in the game to help them work through their relationship problems.

Something about this doesn't sound right, if I may add my two cents here. Getting therapy before you have even decided to get married does not seem like a promising foundation for a relationship. But then again, if people feel it helps them better discover their "compatibility," I guess only time will tell. The divorce rate in America stands at a shocking 50%, but if this new trend becomes popular, maybe we will see a change. I still hold to the fact that the key to a happy and long-lasting marriage is one that incorporates a spiritual aspect as opposed to a relationship based on pure physical traits or financial convenience. But whoever listens to me anyway? I'm no therapist.