Couples Therapy After Baby in Los Angeles
Find your way back to each other, as partners and as parents.
Couples therapy for partners navigating pregnancy, a new baby, and the early years of parenting together.
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In Hermosa Beach, Culver City & West Los Angeles
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Online across California
• In Hermosa Beach, Culver City & West Los Angeles • Online across California
When a Baby Changes Everything, Including the Two of You
You love your baby. You love your partner. And lately you can't remember the last conversation that wasn't about naps, bottles, or whose turn it is. Small things turn into big fights. One of you feels unseen, and the other feels like nothing they do is right. Physical closeness starts to feel like one more thing someone needs from you.
At Mother Nurture Therapy Group, we specialize in couples during the perinatal years. This strain is common, and it makes sense: less sleep, brand-new roles, and two families' ideas about parenting all arrive at once. Couples therapy gives you a place to stop keeping score, understand what's happening between you, and start feeling like a team again.
Relationship strain after baby looks different for everyone.
You might notice
Arguing more, or barely talking at all
Keeping score over sleep, chores, and who does more
Resentment about the mental load
Feeling more like co-workers or roommates than partners
Less physical intimacy, or desire that doesn't line up
Disagreeing about how to parent
Tension with in-laws or grandparents
One or both of you struggling with anxiety, depression, or a hard birth
A new baby doesn't have to mean losing each other. With support, you can find your footing as partners and as parents.
how we can help
We offer practical, balanced support for couples in the early years of parenting.
We start with what's happening at home right now: the fight that keeps repeating, the chores no one ever agreed on, the distance you both feel. Early sessions focus on lowering conflict and making a few things feel more manageable, so you have some relief while we go deeper.
Using the Gottman Method and emotionally focused approaches, we help you see the cycle you get caught in, what each of you needs underneath it, and how to turn toward each other instead of away. We also make room for what this season stirs up for each of you: a hard birth, a loss before this baby, postpartum depression or anxiety, or the ways your own families shaped your ideas about parenting.
Then the work gets concrete: sharing the mental load in a way that feels fair, protecting time together, talking about sex and intimacy without pressure, and agreeing on how you want to parent. If one of you already has an individual therapist, we're glad to coordinate with your consent.
Couples therapy after baby can help you
Fight less and repair faster when you do
Share the mental load in a way that feels fair
Feel like partners again, not just co-parents
Talk about intimacy and sex without pressure or blame
Get on the same page about parenting
Handle in-laws and grandparents as a team
Support each other through postpartum depression or anxiety
Prepare for the transition before your baby arrives
Areas We Support
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Preparing for Baby Together
Talking through roles, expectations, and fears during pregnancy, before the sleepless nights begin
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The First Year After Baby
Sleep deprivation, new routines, and learning to be partners and parents at the same time
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Mental Load & Division of Labor
Invisible work, default-parent roles, and resentment about who carries what
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Intimacy & Sex After Baby
Mismatched desire, body changes, touched-out exhaustion, and finding your way back to closeness
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Postpartum Depression or Anxiety in Your Relationship
When one or both of you is struggling, and the relationship is feeling it too
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After a Difficult Birth or NICU Stay
Making sense of a frightening birth together, including what each of you saw and felt
THERAPY FOR BIRTH TRAUMA -
Parenting Differences
Different instincts about sleep, feeding, discipline, and screens, and finding a shared approach
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In-Laws & Grandparent Roles
Opinions, visits, boundaries, and feeling caught between your partner and your family
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Becoming Parents After Infertility or Loss
When relief, fear, and old grief all show up in the same season
Who You’ll See
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Yael Sherne
Founder & Clinical Director,
Licensed Marriage & Family TherapistTrained in EMDR and the Gottman Method
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Sarah Bederman
Associate Marriage & Family Therapist
EMDR Trained and Gottman Method informed
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Brooke Friedberg
Associate Marriage & Family Therapist, Associate Professional Clinical Counselor
Gottman Method and Trauma informed
GETTING STARTED
Schedule a free call
Share what’s going on and your goals for therapy. Our Care Coordinator will thoughtfully match you with the right therapist, schedule your first session, and set up your secure client portal.
Begin care
In your first session, you’ll share your story, why you’re here, and what you hope will feel different. Together, we’ll start building a path forward.
Heal at the roots
You’ll get practical tools to use right away while we begin connecting the dots from your past to integrate lasting change. Steadiness, connection, and trust in yourself start becoming your new normal.
Prefer in-person or online?
We offer couples therapy for new and expecting parents in person in Hermosa Beach, Culver City, and West Los Angeles, and via telehealth throughout California.
FAQs
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Yes. Most couples go through a hard stretch after a baby arrives, and research has found that a large share of couples report a drop in relationship satisfaction in the first few years of parenthood. More arguing usually reflects exhaustion and brand-new roles, not a failing relationship.
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Anytime the distance or conflict is wearing on you. You don't have to wait until things are at a breaking point. Many couples come in during pregnancy or the first year to get ahead of the patterns before they set in.
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Yes. Pregnancy is a great time to talk through roles, expectations, and fears before the baby arrives, including how you'll share nights, handle family, and stay connected once the baby is here.
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You can start on your own. Individual therapy can help you understand your side of the pattern and how to raise what you need. Many partners become more open to joining once they see things shifting.
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We draw on the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), along with specialized training in perinatal mental health. That means practical tools for conflict and communication, plus attention to what each of you needs underneath the arguments.
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That's common, and it affects the whole relationship. We can address it in couples sessions, and we may also suggest individual support for the partner who's struggling. Partners can experience postpartum depression and anxiety too.
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Yes. Video sessions are available anywhere in California, which can make it much easier to fit therapy in with a baby at home.
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It depends on your goals. Many couples notice less conflict within the first several sessions, then continue for a few months to rebuild closeness and make the changes stick. We'll check in about your goals along the way.
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Mother Nurture Therapy Group offers couples therapy for new and expecting parents at our offices in Hermosa Beach, Culver City, and West LA, and by telehealth anywhere in California. Our team specializes in perinatal mental health and is trained in the Gottman Method and emotionally focused approaches.
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As a private-pay practice, our rates reflect each clinician’s specialized training and the time we invest in your care. We provide superbills for possible out-of-network reimbursement, and you can find current rates on our FAQ page.
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Book a free 15-minute consultation. Our Care Coordinator will talk through what you're looking for, match you with the right therapist and office, and schedule your first session.
