I’m Married… Now What?

***Fresh off the pages of the Huffington Post, Dr. Gonzaga talks about the challenges many couples face in their first year of marriage***.

Although it has been a few years since I was planning my own wedding, I still remember that time well.

My (now) wife and I were so caught up on the details of the day that we didn’t have a lot of time to think about what came after the wedding. Like most couples, our wedding was a day to remember. But after the bouquet was tossed, the toasts were done, the guests went home and we got back from our honeymoon I noticed that being married was a whole lot different than being engaged. Many couples expect their first year of marriage to be nothing short of a fairy tale and are caught by surprise when the first year proves to be filled with challenges as opposed to an extended period of honeymoon bliss.

Read on to discover common issues couples are likely to experience in the first year of marriage, and what research has told us about creating teachable moments in the face of these experiences.  This includes:

1) Life stress

2) In-laws

3) Sexual challenges

4) Your first big fight