By Clare Ogilvie
Bruce and Lori Wilson knew having a baby would change their
lives.
What they weren’t really prepared for was the way it would
change their relationship.
“When (Connor) was first born both of us wanted to be the good
parents and wanted to be there for everything,” said Bruce, the controller at
the Listel Whistler Hotel.
“So we both got up at the same time, every time and it was so
draining. We suffered from sleep deprivation and we were starting to bicker.
“Lori and I started arguing and fighting a lot more and it
wasn’t a happy place to come home anymore.”
For Lori the sleep deprivation was almost unbearable and it was
aggravated by a difficult birth, which injured her hips and added physiotherapy
to her to-do list.
“I didn’t think it would as bad as it was,” said the Pemberton
mom, on maternity leave from her job as an esthetician.
“There really was no break in the beginning and after a while
you can’t even think and you are not eating.”
Both wanted to re-connect and learn how to find their loving
relationship again.
It was while the couple was attending a Sustainability Speaker
series lecture in Whistler last month that they learned of a new course being
offered through Sea to Sky Community Services’ Putting Children First program.
“The course sounded like a really good idea,” said Bruce.
Titled Bringing Baby Home the course will be offered in
Whistler Pemberton and Squamish in March and April. A Gottman Institute
certified course, it will focus on staying connected with your partner,
strengthening your friendship, intimacy and conflict regulation skills,
interacting with your baby in a positive way, keeping both parents involved,
and dealing with conflict successfully.
“I think it will benefit every couple,” said couple and family
therapist Nancy Routley, the certified Gottman trainer who will lead the
course.
“What we do know is that when we bring babies home it changes everything.
It is incredibly stressful. So this course is all about teaching how to make a
really solid foundation, a solid friendship.”
Research shows, said Routley, that within three years after the
birth of a child approximately two-thirds of couples will experience a
significant drop in relationship quality, which may dramatically increase both
conflict and hostility.
New moms can also experience the baby blues or post-partum
depression during this transition.
It is a tenet of the Gottman course that the real foundation
for a child’s development is the quality of the couples’ relationship and
emotional life.
“The strength of the relationship is everything,” said Routley.
“If we have a really strong foundation the rest of it falls
into place. It doesn’t mean it is perfect but it is such an important piece and
the time spent is so worth it.
“It is such an inoculation to what is going to happen in the
next transition period because it is tough.”
The free courses will run on two consecutive Saturdays and will
only be offered this time to pregnant couples or couples with infants. In
Whistler the course will be on March 10 and March 17, in Pemberton the dates
are March 24 and March 31 and in Squamish they will be on April 14 and April
21.
Routley said courses would be offered in the future that are
appropriate for couples with older children.
The Seattle based Gottman Institute, co-founded by Drs. John
and Julie Schwartz Gottman, has two major functions. The Institute helps
couples directly, and it provides state-of-the-art training to mental health
professionals and other health care providers. The Gottman Institute applies
leading-edge research on marriage in a practical, down-to-earth therapy and
trains therapists committed to helping couples.
For more information on the courses and to sign up go to
nancy@routleycounselling.com
or
call 604-938-4484.