How Does Spousal Support Work?

Video Transcript

"Hello my name is Reka Morvay I'm a psychologist and I'm going to talk to you about how to show support for your spouse. Showing support in a marriage is one of the most important things because when you marry this person you agree to be a team and face life's difficulties as a team and this requires that you show support for your spouse whenever it's necessary. Whenever they need it. Showing support also builds a trusting relationship and a loving relationship. As a team you will be much stronger and much more able and capable of facing life's difficulties. Now how do you show support for your spouse, the first thing you should do is listen. Listen to what their problem is. Listen to the situation, sit down look them in the eye. Don't let interruptions bother you and just strive to understand what the difficulty is. Very often your spouse isn't looking for you to solve their problems although understanding the problem would be the first step in this situation as well. But very often they're just looking for an audience. They are looking for somebody to listen and understand what the problem is. The second step is to put yourself in your spouse''s shoes. Try to imagine how you would feel and what you would do in that situation that they are facing. And armed with these two tools you can make an empathetic response for their situation. Remember you don't always have to solve your spouse's problems, you just have to be there and you have to listen."