4 Secrets of Successful Cross-Cultural Marriages

Marriage is one of the most life-changing events in a person’s life. It comes with its own struggles and challenges. Marrying someone from a different culture is whole another challenging thing.

While most relationships do require some sort of compromise, a cross-cultural marriage might require additional compromises. Many people have certain beliefs and attachments with their culture, which makes cross-cultural marriages look daunting.

Understanding the challenges while also taking steps to ensure your marriage works is how you can build a successful marriage with your partner. These secrets can help you maintain a healthy cross-cultural or multicultural marriage.

Accept All Differences

When you marry someone from an entirely different culture than yours, you’re entering an unknown world. It would do you and your partner a huge favor if you’d accept all the cross-cultural differences. When you understand and accept these differences, you will be ready for everything.

You can easily adjust, expect new things, speak with your partner with a more open mind, and maybe even learn a thing or two. If you make an active effort to understand these differences, you will be able to accept your partner’s culture in all its glory.

Educate Yourself

You surely don’t want a failed marriage due to cultural differences. That’s why you’re reading this blog, right? The best way to avoid this is by making a significant effort in educating yourself about the values and beliefs of your partner’s culture.

You can talk to your partner about their childhood, the environment they grew up in, their family, relatives, traditions, and all about their past relationships. This will not only help you in understanding your partner better but will also educate you about their culture.

Establish a Relationship with Their Family

A great way to make sure you adjust to your partner’s culture is by having a good relationship with their family. If you keep in touch with their family—be it through the internet, telephone, or in-person visits—you will understand your partner and their culture more. It will be an important source of knowledge and comfort for you and your partner both.

Open and Honest Communication

Before you and your partner decide to marry, you have to sit down and discuss all the important aspects of making your marriage work. Even after your marriage, you both have to communicate honestly and openly. To avoid anything that will put your relationship under stress or security, you both should discuss things beforehand.

Whether you’re newly married or have been married for a while, you can seek marriage counseling to help you or your partner adjust better. At Silicon Valley Marriage Counseling, Azizeh E. Rezaiyan, LMFT, offers marriage counseling in Palo Alto. She is a trusted marriage counseling therapist in Palo Alto.

She also speaks Farsi, so if you’re looking for an English and Farsi-speaking therapist, book your appointment for couples counseling in Palo Alto by contacting us today.