208. Erin & Stephen on the Hardest Decisions Couples Make (Adding Another Baby, Conflict & Self-Awareness)
We are sharing the microphone with a married couple who also happen to be couples counselors specifically for parents. Erin and Stephen Mitchell join us today to talk about the tough decisions we have to make as parents, starting with do we want to have more kids? They go into their own story on this very subject and share the struggles they had to overcome to come to a final decision. Not only do they bring the humanity behind therapy, but also with Stephen’s PhD in medical family therapy and Erin’s masters in counseling and psychology, they’re able to bring in so much more.
We know that the decision of how many children to have shows up constantly for this community. Some couples can fight on this topic for months and months, some even years. Erin and Stephen share what you should be asking yourselves, as individuals, if this is a topic of tension in your household. And what about if you’re grid locked - one person is a no and the other is a yes. They share how you can move forward in this situation.
Finances are another topic of discussion that cause stress for couples. Do you feel like you can never get on the same page as your partner when it comes to money? And what about a career change? How do you decide as a couple if this is the next right move for your family? Erin and Stephen bring forth the idea of asking what the truth behind the story we are telling ourselves is with these issues. They also share how to help your partner feel seen and heard when their opinion differs from your own.
We both had so much to reflect on after this conversation. Erin and Stephen still have issues, even though they are experts in this area. We all have things that we can continue to work on inside our relationships. And, when we throw kids in the mix, it only elevates the demands and responsibilities we feel when making tough decisions. We hope this episode allows you and your partner to revisit some of the stories underneath the surface and that together, as a couple, you can understand each other just a little bit better and decision fatigue can be less of a burden.
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