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Couplehood

In the Couplehood podcast, you’ll learn key communication strategies that will help you speak your truth and share with your partner in a loving and constructive way. Hosted by Allison Villa - a registered psychotherapist and relationship expert - with a mission to empower parents to make their romantic relationship a priority. We’ll dive deep into the reasons why so many couples let the little things brew in their relationships — and how you can face these proactively to avoid putting your couple in the breakdown lane. You’ll discover why self-care can actually be the key to having a harmonious relationship and how easy it can be to schedule it into your day — even as a busy parent!

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Couplehood

Navigating Major Life Changes Together

May 10, 2021 • Allison Villa • Episode 19

“Just being open to communicating and proactive in our relationship really made sure we didn’t get to those breaking points.”

— Kat

This is the third episode of my limited Sandbox Spotlight series, which features interviews with real-life couples talking about their real-life experiences navigating the four relationship seasons, developing better communication skills, and deepening their connection.

If you haven’t listened to my episodes on the relationship seasons, I recommend you check them out first!

My guests for this episode are Kat and Brad, who have been together for four years and are raising their one-year-old and Brad’s eight-year-old son.

While Kat and Brad are currently in the Connected season, they were recently in the Coping season due to numerous life events that happened over the last year, including the loss of Brad’s mother, the birth of their new baby, and Brad’s job being transformed to work-from-home — three very impactful events.

Being home together for 24 hours each day with a newborn could have been a huge challenge for the two of them. Proactively using the tools they learned through the Couple’s Sandbox community helped them avoid breaking points, and Kat credits their desire to be happy together as a major motivation to work together to address issues.

In this interview, Kat and Brad talk about being proactive in taking care of their relationship, how they dealt with Brad work-from-home shift, and how listening to other couples has helped to deepen their own connection.

In‌ ‌this‌ ‌episode of Couplehood,‌ ‌you’ll discover:‌ ‌

How Kat and Brad managed to move from the Coping season to the Connected season in the middle of a pandemic
Why being able to identify your relationship season makes such a huge difference in your communication
Why proactive couple care is just as important as self care

“There’s nothing wrong with the season that you’re in and we can move forward together.”

— Brad ‌

Highlights:‌ ‌

00:24 The Sandbox Spotlight
01:50 Meet Kat and Brad
03:30 New motherhood & work-from-home
04:28 Changing relationship seasons during a pandemic
06:01 The impact of understanding the seasons
07:19 Being present
08:44 Self care & couple care
09:45 Be proactive
10:25 Couple’s Sandbox
12:38 Virtual skills & lighting
13:57 Creating love habits
15:50 Gratitude

‌Links:‌ ‌ ‌

Work With Me:

https://www.allisonvilla.com

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https://instagram.com/allison__villa

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