Michelle Obama has revealed that she and her husband, former US President Barack Obama, attended marriage counselling to navigate 'tough times' after the birth of their daughters. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey at Barclays Center in New York on Saturday, she told a crowd of 15,000 that therapy helped her realise she was responsible for her own happiness.
'Sometimes you need an objective person to just hear you out,' she said. 'If I’m going to show up equal in this partnership, I have to be able to make myself happy and so I had to stop focusing on what he wasn’t doing and start thinking about how to carve out the life that I wanted for myself, with or without Barack.'
The former first lady emphasised the challenges of marriage and parenting, noting that raising a family together 'takes a toll'. With daughters Malia, 21, and Sasha, 18, now at university, she and Barack have more 'emotional time and energy' to focus on each other and their dogs, Bo and Sunny.
Reflecting on their journey, Michelle said friendship remains at the core of their relationship. 'We’re coming back to that point where we see each other again because some of the hardest times in our lives we just escaped, we survived it,' she said. 'I can look at him and I still recognise my husband. He’s still the man I fell in love with.'
The couple, who met at a Chicago law firm, will celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary on 3 October.
