Are you or your partner finding that living with one of your parents is more than you bargained for?

Society sometimes labels couples who live with one or the other’s parents as “failure to launch.” However, this is a judgment which does not take into account your culturally relevant or specific family issues and is not necessarily the truth of your reality.

Choosing to have more support and to reduce unnecessary stresses (i.e. financial and otherwise) can be a very wise decision. However, you may find that living with your parents or your partner’s parents is just as challenging as living on your own. For example:

• you find it hard to maintain autonomy and privacy in your relationship
• you find it is a challenge to negotiate the generational differences
• you feel frustrated parenting your children when your parents keep interfering
• you feel your parents interfere with the communication between you and your partner

You can learn to live happily in a three generation family…

It is possible to develop a healthy and respectful relationship with your partner, your children and the extended family while residing in a three-generation living environment. You can regain your authority as parents and your privacy as a couple.

Marriage or family therapy can help you:

• develop a mutually respectful agreement with your parents about your need for privacy
• find ways to resume authority in parenting your children
• learn healthy and productive negotiation skills that can be used to resolve conflict with your partner and extended family members

A healthy family does not mean that you do not have problems. Even the healthiest families have problems. What makes a family work? It is the strength of the family to effectively communicate and negotiate their needs with one another.

Couples therapy or relationship counselling can help you build your family’s strengths to better deal with the challenges of family life. Please contact me for a free 10 minute phone consultation to find out more about my marriage and family counseling services.