Saturday, August 15, 2015

Aleshia Osemwengie Reveals Fears, Challenges and Lessons Learned on FYI's Seven Year Switch




From the producers of Married at First Sight, Kinetic Content teamed up with FYI Network to bring us another relationship-based reality TV series, Seven Year Switch. In this innovative and radical social experiment, couples spend two weeks with an experimental spouse that has their "ideal" traits in a partner.
Las Vegas couple Aleshia and Houston Osemwengie, participated in switch therapy with Atlanta couple Leah and Neal Carney.
Aleshia and Houston Osemwengie - FYI

Aleshia spends her time working and studying to get her graduate degree and Houston works as an engineer by day and a DJ by night. With their busy schedules, it's difficult to find time for each other and their marriage has suffered. 
In switch therapy, the activities and advice from psychologists Dr. Jessica Griffin and Dr. Dan Shapiro, help couples to better navigate the challenges with communication, trust and emotional intimacy. The goal is for the individuals to bring the skills they learned back to their "real" marriages, in an effort to save them. 
Why would they do something as radical as switch therapy? I had the opportunity to find out from Aleshia, first hand. In this interview, she reveals her fears, challenges and lessons learned on Seven Year Switch. 

Aleshia Osemwengie - Twitter

B:  How did you hear about Seven Year Switch (SYS)?
A:  I saw a posting on Facebook for a casting of married couples who could use some help with their issues. No relationship is perfect, so why not give it a try. 

B:  What led you to agree to participate in switch therapy? 
A:  Personally, I've never witnessed a successful first marriage in my family, so I figure we could use all the help we can get...especially as newlyweds. 

B:  Can you tell us what your biggest fear was when you signed up for this? 
My biggest fear was that since switch therapy is a new technique, it may cause more harm than good and we could find out that "the grass is greener". 

B:  What was the initial meeting like with Neal? 
Aleshia Osemwengie and Neal Carney - FYI

A:  Surprisingly, I felt comfortable right away! He gave me a warm welcome into the house with a big smile, hug and a rose. His nice demeanor immediately put all my anxieties at ease. 




B. Can you share a specific challenge you had with Neal and how you handled it? 
A:  At times it was hard to put the whole story of Neal's relationship together. He wasn't very forth-coming with all the details. I hate to pry, but was forced at times, in order to get the entire story. 

B:  What did your time with Neal teach you?
A:  I am so grateful we don't have infidelity issues like our experimental spouses. Looking at Neal and Leah's marriage it proves that once trust is broken, it's almost impossible to get back. I'm hoping that the fact that they were brave enough to share that personal issue with us and the world will help prevent people from making the same mistakes.

B:  While watching SYS, was there anything you saw that surprised you?
A:  I was surprised by being labeled a "housewife" since I do work and go to school. I understand it's because I do take care of the majority of the traditional housewife duties. Just never thought of it like that.
B:  What was the most profound thing you learned from this experience?
Photo credit - FYI
A:  I learned that even though I don't get to spend as much time with Houston as I would like to, we are in constant communication via text and phone calls. I missed him so much, I would forget that I was doing this experiment and literally reach for my non-existent phone constantly! It was crazy and made me really sad...it also made me appreciate those phone calls when he's out working. 

B.  Can you share something new you learned about Houston from watching SYS? 
A:  One thing I learned about Houston is that he saved all of his "niceness" and gentleman qualities for me. I was surprised he had Leah sleep on the couch at all. 

B:  What would your biggest regret be?
A:  No regrets! I fully committed and tried to get the most out of this process. 



B:  What was it like returning home after the 14 day experiment was over? 
Photo credit - FYI
A:  Honestly, it was like a second honeymoon! No contact at all for two weeks was extreme for us. We missed each other immensely and I'm sure it showed.






B:  Name one thing we can expect to see in future episodes.
A:  You can expect me to stay open and do my best to really learn and grow from the this experiment.

***

 Although they missed each other immensely, did Aleshia and Houston learn to balance work, play and time together in order to save their marriage? Tune in to Seven Year Switch on FYI Network, Tuesdays at 9/8c to find out! 








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