SAN DIEGO — Advice to engaged couples from relatives and older married friends may be well-intended, but could be hazardous to a new marriage, according to a specialist.
"You have to be picky about which advise you listen to," said Gregory Brock, director of the marriage and family therapy program at United States International University in San Diego.
"Statements about one person's marriage may or may not apply to another one. While some often-repeated advice has been validated by research, some has been shown not to be true at all."
Questionable Tips
Here are some frequently given bits of advice that Brock suggests young couples be especially wary of:
--"Your wedding night will be the best night of your life." Couples who believe that may be disappointed when their wedding night is nothing spectacular. "It's not realistic to expect a 'magical, intimate experience' on a night when you will be extremely tired, probably irritable and in a strange place," Brock said. "It takes a lot of time and a lot of work to develop a fully satisfactory sexual relationship."