Nara Smith Credits Couples Therapy for Navigating Daughter's Cancer Journey
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Nara Smith revealed that couples therapy provided critical communication tools that helped her and husband Lucky Blue Smith navigate their 2-year-old daughter Whimsy's cancer (search) diagnosis and chemotherapy.
Smith described the experience as a reciprocal support system, with each partner stepping in when the other was "crumbling," likening it to a three-legged race to the finish line.
The model and TikTok creator disclosed in early July that Whimsy was diagnosed with cancer (search) late last year and has since completed treatment and is now in remission.
Model and TikTok creator Nara Smith opened up about the profound role couples therapy played in helping her family navigate her young daughter's cancer (search) diagnosis, speaking candidly on Wednesday's episode of the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. Smith, 24, and her husband, model Lucky Blue Smith, leaned on communication skills developed through therapy as their 2-year-old daughter Whimsy Lou underwent chemotherapy late last year.
Smith told podcast host Alex Cooper that the couple did not fully process their daughter's diagnosis until the physical effects of chemotherapy became visible. "We started crumbling a little bit," Smith said, describing the moment when hair loss and nausea set in.
The couple developed a reciprocal support dynamic that Smith likened to a three-legged race. "When I had a hard day with it, he picked me up. When he had a hard day, I picked him up, and we were like, 'Let's just keep going,'" she recalled. "It felt like that game where you're tied to someone else, and you have to make it to the finish line together."
Smith, whose content is often associated with the "tradwife" aesthetic, said she initially suggested couples therapy early in their relationship because she recognized they had grown up differently and wanted to build "a strong foundation" from the start. She pushed back against the stigma surrounding couples counseling, noting that many people assume it signals an impending divorce.
"Couples therapy gets a bad rep," Smith said. "It's like, 'Oh, you're going to get divorced. That's why you're going to therapy.' Sometimes, nothing's wrong and you just want to have more tools to live the best life."
The communication skills developed in therapy proved essential during Whimsy's treatment. "[Before therapy] we kind of talked at each other but never with each other. It came in really handy with this experience to where, even though I might have been feeling whatever I felt, I learned to create space for his feelings and for us to communicate and work through it together," Smith explained.
Smith revealed in an Instagram post in early July that Whimsy had been diagnosed with cancer (search) late last year, though she did not disclose the specific type. At the time of the post, her daughter had already completed treatment. Smith shared two weeks later that Whimsy's cancer is now in remission. The couple also has three other children: Rumble Honey, Slim Easy, and Fawnie Golden.
Smith joins a growing number of public figures who have spoken openly about the benefits of proactive couples therapy. In 2024, actor Rob Lowe described counseling with his wife Sheryl Berkoff as akin to "taking your car in and making sure the engine's running great." In 2025, actor Manny Jacinto echoed the sentiment, advising that couples should seek therapy when things are good, noting that "you don't want to be going to couples therapy when you're in a really bad spot because sometimes it might be too late."