Thomas Rhett and Wife Lauren Open Up About Marriage Counseling

The couple say communication is the key to their relationship.

Written by Chris Parton
Thomas Rhett and Wife Lauren Open Up About Marriage Counseling
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 24: (L-R) Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins attend the 2019 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 24, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images for dcp)

Thomas Rhett and his wife Lauren Akins have slowly become one of the most beloved couples in country music, and now fans can learn more about their relationship than ever.

In her new book Live in Love, Akins opened up on some of the most personal details of the couple’s life — not in an effort to sensationalize their world, but “tear down these walls of seemingly perfection,” she told Entertainment Tonight. And part of that is admitting they’re proud proponents of marriage counseling.

Explaining that the couple had done pre-marital counseling before they were wed, Akins went on to explain that at one point, her husband’s career and their lives as parents to three young children came to a head.

“I had a mental breakdown. I don’t know what you want to call it, but I had a moment where I was like, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’m not OK and I think I’m about to take it all out on you. I’m not sure if a lot of it’s your fault, but it’s coming at you, buddy,'” she admitted. “It was one of the worst fights we’ve ever had. And I said things that I wish I hadn’t said, but I think it was coming from a place of me not feeling safe anymore and me feeling alone, which I feel like it’s just the theme of what so many people can relate to.”

Then during an appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, Rhett explained what led to that moment. The couple were in the process of adopting daughter Willa from Uganda, and Akins was also pregnant with daughter Ada, but the famous pair were living in seperate worlds — literally.

“Lauren called me because it was 9 o’clock in the morning in Uganda and … she hears all of her friends in the background,” Rhett said. “Meanwhile, Lauren is seven months pregnant and throwing up in a bathroom in Uganda. That was when Lauren was like, ‘We are living two completely separate lives right now.’ … That was a really humbling experience for me, just knowing what she was dealing with in a sense of aloneness while I’m kind of living life as usual. That part was really hard for us, for sure. Kind of getting over that and going through some therapy, especially over that one night.”

Both husband and wife go on to say they think counseling has made their marriage better, and that they encourage every couple to give it a shot.

“Coming on the other side of that, I feel like I learned so much from that experience,” he said. “It made me know that, in a marriage, you do have to figure stuff out. You have to talk about it. You’ve gotta be real about it. You’ve gotta be honest about it.”