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Surviving Marriage as New Parents
“An ounce of prevention” is truly worth a pound of cure!
Sadly, many couples think that their honeymoon ended when they began to have children. Understanding what is to be expected realistically from life as a young family is extremely valuable.
Ideally couples should learn how to succeed in their relationship together before having issues. More commonly couples look to deal with problems after they have grown apart and bad habits have formed. It is never too late to learn how to deal with an evolving family life.
Couples in marriage counseling must be willing to take off their rose-colored glasses long enough to learn the answers to some challenging questions like:
- What are the most significant factors for the long-term success of a marriage today?
- Why is divorce most common after 1-2 years or 6-8 years of marriage?
- How can you maintain a fulfilling sex life when you have young children in your home?
- Do you know why second marriages have a higher incidence of divorce than first marriages?
In addition, couples learn about:
- Good communication skills, including problem solving
- How to balance your needs as a couple with needs as individuals
- Normal stages of a family life cycle
- Healthy parenting skills
- Affair prevention
The children of divorced parents run a high risk of repeating their parents’ behavior. Ideally the next generation will learn to build a healthy understanding and useful strategies to assure marital success, and therefore break the dysfunctional family patterns.
Get it Right the Second Time
If you end up divorced, it’s good to know that second marriages have a higher divorce rate than first marriages. Therefore, it is important to learn from past experiences and mistakes, and take the newfound understanding and awareness into your new commitment. Learn how to create a healthy marriage and family system.
Dr. David Helfand - LifeWise
Israel and Cathie are mostly working with older couples these days and couples with sexual goals. Their son, Dr. David Helfand, is working with younger couples and parents of young children. Dr H is a well-respected Psychologist who offers private retreats for couples in St Johnsbury Vermont. He does 1, 2, and 3-Day retreats for couples looking to gain healthy relationship skills in preparing for a lifetime of happiness together. Many of them are struggling and considering divorce because of the stresses of parenthood and the disillusionment with this phase of life.
To learn more about his retreats click on the button below:
From one of Dr H's couples:
“Forever grateful for the help and incite you gave us to heal our relationship. We had a pretty bleak outlook for a while, and going through the course and continuing to use the communication skills you taught us has changed everything for us. Never stop dating your partner great advice, finding time to be a couple and not just mom and dad or one without the other has made a huge difference in things. You gave us the tools to change the entire course of our lives, and we will be forever thankful. I couldn’t imagine life without my husband now, and he shows his appreciation to me like never before, it’s always going to be a work in progress, but it most definitely worth the work now. Thank you again!”