Marriage Counseling for New Parents

Marriage counseling is an important tool for new parents. If you are reading this, you might have just found out you are pregnant. Maybe it’s almost your due date and you want to know how to prepare your marriage for your baby. Maybe you recently had a baby and your marriage is struggling. The birth of your baby may be exciting, but getting used to parenthood can be hard. Thankfully, our marriage therapists understand how you feel. Marriage counseling can help you adjust to your new life as parents. In this article, you will learn ways you can prepare your marriage for parenthood (Related article: Relationship Counseling: What To Know Before You Go). 

Marriage Therapy Gives You Valuable Parenting Tools

By now, you may have heard about all of the baby items you need to prepare for the arrival of your child. But, have you considered your emotional preparation for your new addition? As your due date approaches, you may think you have everything ready for your baby. Still, what have you prepared for you and your spouse? Becoming parents is overwhelming, but pregnancy is a great time to prepare for the emotional stress of parenting. Luckily, couples therapists have the training and education to help you be ready for the demands of parenthood. 

For example, your couples therapist can help you and your spouse prepare by establishing parenting expectations with your spouse. How do you plan to care for the baby at night? How will you divide household responsibilities as parents? What are boundaries for visitors after the baby is born? Marriage therapy can help you address these new parenting challenges beforehand (Related article: From You and Me to Three: Becoming New Parents). Research shows that if you and your spouse prepare for these parenting struggles in advance in couples counseling, you will be more confident in your parenting and communication skills as you adjust to your new lives as parents (Source: Normal Stress During the Transition to Parenthood by B.C. Miller, 1980). 

Preparing Your Marriage For Parenthood in Couples Counseling

Parenting issues are not the only challenges you may face as new parents. After the baby is here, you may find that you are struggling to communicate effectively with your spouse. Or maybe you are having a hard time connecting to each other emotionally like you used to. Fortunately, your marriage counselor can help to prepare your marriage for the stress of parenting (Related article: Couples Therapy).

Happy Couples, Happy Parents

So, what do you do when it feels like your struggles start in your marriage and not your parenting? Our therapists can help you and your spouse to improve your communication skills and relationship so that you can be resilient to all life changes, not just caring for your new baby. 

For instance, let’s say that you are struggling to meet each other’s needs as a couple when you discover you are pregnant with your first child. It may seem overwhelming to try to prepare for parenthood while also trying to fix your marriage problems, but that’s where your therapist can help (Related Article: How to Communicate Better Through Boundaries). 

In couples therapy you can improve and reinforce your relationship. Research shows that if you have a positive and supportive marriage relationship before your baby is born, then you are more likely to have a positive postpartum experience when the baby arrives (Source: Stability and Change in Marriage across the Transition to Parenthood by J. Belsky et al, 1985). 

You Can Be Ready for Parenthood with Marriage Counseling

Becoming a parent is an adjustment, but you don’t have to be unprepared for this exciting life change. You can learn the tools you need in your marriage and as parents that will help you and your spouse thrive when your baby is born (Related article: How Marriage Therapy Can Help). 

Marriage counseling can help you prepare for your new addition. Start couples therapy today in Orem, South Jordan, or Spanish Fork.

Written by Lauren Adkins