The issue of whose home to live in becomes part of this marriage. Too frequently this decision is decided upon on the basis of practicality alone, rather than examining the psychological impact of such a move and its affect on the family system. Human emotion is not always practical. It is common for the one who moves into the other's home to feel a bit like a guest or interloper. Even if it was OK before marriage, feelings change after marriage.
Some people feel like a substitute spouse sleeping in the same bed.
It is easy for the home-owner to think of the new spouse in similar terms as the previous spouse simply because the context is similar. The power distribution becomes unequal because the house belongs exclusively to one spouse. Best Good Fair Poor Dr. Edward A. Dreyfus is a Clinical Psychologist, Marriage, Family, Child Therapist, and Sex Therapist. Dr. Dreyfus has been providing psychological services in the Los Angeles-Santa Monica area for over 30 years. He offers individual psychotherapy to adolescents and adults, divorce mediation, couples counseling, group therapy, and career and vocational counseling and assessment.