Couples Therapy for Parents & Partners
Navigating the profound relationship shifts of
pregnancy, postpartum, infertility, and loss.
Serving Mount Juliet and greater Nashville, with online therapy across Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.
Why Your Relationship Feels Different
Role Shifts: Moving from "partners" to "co-parents" and navigating the invisible mental load.
Intimacy Changes: Adjusting to changes in physical connection, libido, and body image.
Communication Breakdown: Learning to communicate needs without snapping when you are both sleep-deprived.
Parenting Differences: Navigating conflicts over parenting styles or in-law boundaries.
The transition into parenthood is one of the biggest seismic shifts a couple will ever experience. Research consistently shows a temporary "dip" in relationship satisfaction for many couples after the birth of a baby—even in the strongest partnerships.
This is not a sign of failure. It is a predictable response to a season where both partners are stretched to their physical and emotional limits.
We help couples navigate the common friction points of the "Fourth Trimester":
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Pregnancy and early parenting comes with intense demands. Sleep deprivation, dramatic hormone shifts, and 24 hour caregiving can leave both partners depleted. When energy is low, patience and emotional availability often suffer.
How therapy helps:
Couples therapy creates space to name overwhelm, find practical ways to support each other. -
Becoming a parent can alter how partners see themselves and each other. Long-held expectations about parenting, work, and partnership—often shaped by family of origin or culture—may surface or clash.
How therapy helps:
Therapy supports couples in exploring these shifts with curiosity rather than conflict, helping partners understand each other’s experiences and renegotiate roles in ways that feel sustainable and respectful. -
With a baby’s needs taking priority, couples often have less time and energy for emotional and physical intimacy. Many partners feel disconnected, lonely, or unsure how to reach each other again.
How therapy helps:
Couples therapy helps partners rebuild connection in realistic ways, address changes in desire without shame, and strengthen emotional closeness even during demanding seasons. -
Stress can make it harder to communicate clearly and kindly. Small misunderstandings may escalate more quickly, and unresolved tension can build over time.
How therapy helps:
Therapy provides tools for communicating needs, boundaries, and frustrations more effectively—especially when emotions are high and time is limited. -
Differences in parenting approaches, family involvement, or support systems can intensify conflict, particularly when couples are already stretched thin.
How therapy helps:
Couples therapy supports collaborative decision-making, boundary setting, and a stronger sense of being on the same team.
Experiencing these challenges does not mean your relationship is broken.
It means you’re navigating one of the most demanding transitions a couple can face.
Support can make the difference between drifting apart and growing stronger together.
Couples Therapy for Infertility,
Pregnancy Loss & Perinatal Diagnosis
Infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, or a difficult perinatal diagnosis place a very different kind of strain on a relationship. These experiences often involve grief, uncertainty, medical trauma, and deeply personal differences in coping.
Couples therapy in this context looks different than postpartum work.
We approach it with particular care to help you survive the storm together.
Navigating Infertility as a Couple
Many couples find this is one of the most isolating seasons of their relationship. We focus on:
Processing the Cycle: Managing the rollercoaster of hope, disappointment, and loss.
Reducing Blame: Moving away from guilt or self-criticism and toward connection.
Decision Making: Supporting each other through complex medical choices and financial stress.
Staying Connected: Finding ways to be a couple when life feels “on hold.”
Couple’s Therapy After
Miscarriage or Pregnancy Loss
Pregnancy loss affects each partner differently, and mismatched grieving styles can create distance. We help you:
Validate Differences: Understand that one partner may "move on" while the other is still grieving.
Grieve Without Comparison: Create space for individual grief styles without judgement.
Honor the Loss: Find ways to remember your baby while moving forward together.
Reconnect: Rebuild safety and intimacy after trauma or emotional withdrawal.
Walking through a Perinatal Diagnosis Together
Receiving a difficult or unexpected diagnosis during pregnancy can be overwhelming. We support you in:
Processing fear, grief, and uncertainty as a team
Making complex medical or ethical decisions together
Strengthening communication under intense stress
Preventing isolation when one partner feels they must “stay strong”
These experiences place unique strain on a relationship, but they don't have to be faced alone. We offer a space to slow down, make sense of what's happening, and move forward with greater connection.
Is Couples Therapy Right for You?
You do not need to wait until your relationship is in crisis to benefit from support. Couples therapy may be helpful if you are experiencing:
Increased conflict or emotional distance.
Difficulty communicating needs or expectations.
Strain related to pregnancy, postpartum changes, or fertility challenges.
Feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or misunderstood.
You don’t have to navigate this transition alone.