Josh and Anna Duggar turn to marriage counseling to resolve issues post-cheating scandal
It's not all a bed of roses for Josh and Anna Duggar as they struggle to save their marriage after Josh got involved in a cheating scandal and later admitted to being addicted to pornography as well as being unfaithful to Anna. The couple have announced on their official website that they are undergoing marriage counseling in order to resolve their issues.
"Since the residential treatment program ended, we have been working with a professional marriage and family counselor to take important steps toward healing," the couple said in a joint statement released Friday, May 27. "It isn't easy and some days are very difficult. It is a long road to rebuild trust and a truly healthy relationship."
They also expressed their gratitude to their fans for the love and support shown toward them.
The couple married in 2008 and have four children together: Mackynzie, six years old; Michael, four; Marcus, two; and Meredith Grace, seven months.
It has seemed a pretty rough time for the family, since the infidelity issue has been compounded by Josh's own admission that he had molested under-aged girls as a teenager, including two of his younger siblings.
Josh starred in a reality TV show that televised his family life with parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar in TLC's "19 Kids and Counting," which has been discontinued after the scandal involving Josh. It has only been a couple of months since the eldest Duggar son completed his rehabilitation at a facility in Illinois which was said to help him conquer his addiction.
It can be recalled that Josh apologized last year for his "inexcusable" deeds after the police reports on the alleged molestation charges resurfaced when the controversy exploded.
Through all this, Anna has patiently stood by her man, who she calls her "first love."
The long-suffering wife shared in "Jill and Jessa: Counting On," which premiered December 2015 on TLC, that she had clung to her faith "in the shock of everything."
She said, "I was just praying, 'God, help me to respond to all of this.'"
Anna shared that she had not known what to do but realized that they needed some help. She told the show's viewers that she prayed God would help them to go on.
