3 Tips for Coping With Frequent Moves as a Military Spouse

Marrying someone in the military means signing up for a life of unique challenges. You may have to cope with your spouse being in frequent dangerous situations or being away for long stretches of time. Even if that's not the case, a challenge common to most military spouses is having to move every few years. This can make it hard to develop roots and can lead to stress and anxiety. Here are three ways to cope with frequent moves as a military spouse.

Get Military Family Counseling

Family Military Counseling is ideal in this situation since you, your spouse, and any children you have are likely coping with the frequent moves in different ways. Family counseling can help ensure everyone in the family, including yourself, feels truly heard. Your counselor will also help you create an action plan and compromises for coping. For example, you may realize in counseling that it's important to eventually settle down in one place, and create a plan for making that happen, either within the military or by your spouse exiting the military and starting a new career.

Be Open About the Challenges

You may feel like it's best to keep your frustrations and stresses to yourself because your spouse has a stressful job. Holding everything in will only increase your resentment and lead to distance in your marriage. You don't want to vent in a negative way all the time, but it's important to set aside times for open, candid conversations with your partner. Let them know which aspects of frequent moves are bothering you and come up with solutions together. You and your partner may decide you should visit your friends and family back home more often, or that you should explore your new area together every weekend.

Have Your Own Goals

Being a military spouse can be disruptive to your educational and career goals, but this doesn't mean you have to give them up. In fact, having your own goals to focus on will make your moves less stressful and will ease the pressure on your spouse. If you don't want to apply for jobs knowing that you're just going to have to leave again in a few years, consider remote work opportunities you can continue with no matter where you live. The same goes for online college if you've always wanted to go back to school.

Moving frequently as a military spouse is challenging, but following these tips will help you cope.

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