Online Counseling as a Resource for Relationship Advice: The New Parent Case

Think about any parent that you know, including yourself, if it applies... You will most likely agry that when Jane and Mark brought home their precious newborn daughter from the hospital, they couldn’t have been happier.

However, as the days wore on, they found themselves feeling isolated and out of tune with each other. Balancing their new roles and duties exhausted the couple and they needed professional counseling help to get back on track. Like Jane and Mark, most couples find that bringing home a new baby is one of the most joyous occasions in a person’s life, but it also comes with stressors for the new parents.

The Relationship Advice via Online Counseling offers a useful solution for couples that are on the bumpy path of new parenthood. For the theoretical background regarding this counseling process you may reffer to Relationship Advice Online Counseling.

First and basic Relationship Advice is to encourage asking for help when it’s needed. We all are too hard when time comes to ask favors… Family and friends are over the moon to watch their loved ones embrace a new baby. They usually want to help but don’t know how. Perhaps they can drop dinner by one night. Or when they come over to cuddle the baby, they might also be able to put in a load of dishes for you. One of the best gifts for a new mother is being able to catch a nap while a family member or friend takes care of the baby. By asking for help, the new couple develops a support system for themselves.

A second direction is encouraging new parents to relate and rely on each other in new ways and so time alone together can be critical for maintaining a strong relationship. It’s difficult for new parents to keep up with the day-to-day care of a needy newborn, much less set aside time to engage in fulfilling conversations. Making a date—away from the baby—can be a good time to discuss feelings about changes in family roles and responsibilities. Some parents feel a sense of isolation or even ambivalence about parenthood at first.

A third Relationship Advice is based on my marriage counseling experience: it is especially important for husbands to check regarding the possibility of post-partum depression. By setting aside time together, husbands can show appreciation and concern for their partners. This support can be mutual in order to maintain or strengthen emotional health despite the challenges of adjusting to parenthood.

The fourth recommendation is that each new parent will set aside some time to be away from their baby and spouse. It is easy for parents to become overwhelmed by their new roles when baby arrives. Many new parents complain that although they love being a parent, they miss who they were before. As a Relationship Advice counselor I encourage new parents to know that these feelings can be easily mitigated. New parents who are feeling out of touch with themselves should take some time to interact with an old friend or engage in a favorite hobby. Sometimes just being alone to think or write in a journal can be helpful too.

The fifth helpful technique is helping new parents map out resources, such as family and friends, readings, webinars, free counseling sources and so which they can rely on to cope with the added workload and parenthood challenges.

Together, these five approaches will decrease the stress that often burden new parents.

The entire support process could be handled via Online Counseling: phone or web-cam. Professional Relationship Advice and Life Coach mentoring can be useful in guiding new parents find ways to cope with stresses of their new roles.