IN THIS ARTICLE:
Understanding infidelity
Infidelity, commonly referred to as cheating, is a common issues that impact many couple relationships and marriages. When someone goes outside of the promises of their marriage, it can have devastating impacts for the relationship due to the pain and mistrust that it can cause. Many couples will turn to marriage counseling to help them work through the painful emotions and mistrust in order to repair and heal from the infidelity. This article will provide an overview of how marriage counseling can help with infidelity.
Having an understanding of infidelity is an important first step in knowing if marriage counseling can help with infidelity. When someone is unfaithful, they have usually engaged in either a sexual or romantic relationship with someone other than their partner. What makes it infidelity is that this secondary relationship is kept a secret in the marriage. Why would someone cheat? This is the most common question people ask themselves after there has been infidelity, and usually both partners in the marriage are wondering why the infidelity happened. Sometimes it is because the unfaithful partner felt unhappy, unfulfilled, or neglected in the marriage. Other times it's related to personality traits of poor impulse control and low self esteem leading them to crave the attention of someone else. The cause can vary in different circumstances and it will be important to discover the cause over time in order to prevent infidelity in the future. Regardless of the cause, infidelity usually leads to deep feelings of sadness, anger, and betrayal for the injured partner. Overview of marriage counseling
Marriage counseling or couples therapy are a form of counseling that is focused on helping couples improve communication, resolve conflict, and build a better relationship foundation to navigate challenges as a team. In marriage counseling and couples therapy, couples meet with a licensed therapist whoo specializing in working with couples and families. The focus of the meetings will be to help the couple improve their relationship. There are several types of marriage counselings (learn about the most common types here). However, the type of marriage counseling that has the highest effectiveness in the research is called Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) (learn more about how EFT works here and learn more about the effectiveness of EFT here).
Infidelity and marriage counseling
Can marriage counseling help with infidelity? The short answer is yes, but several factors may impact the effectiveness of marriage counseling for affair recovery.
It is important to know that healing from infidelity is a process that takes time. Just like with a severe physical injury, it can take a while for healing to happen and for the pain to subside. You will want patience for the healing process as you work to rebuild trust and repair the relationship. It's important to know that while infidelity is devastating, it doesn't have to be the end of the relationship. Marriage counseling can help you rebuild trust and repair the relationship." Success rates of marriage counseling for infidelity
In general, most couples decide to stay together after infidelity, and the couples who learn to communicate effectively and to work together on underlying issues tend to have more success in marriage counseling. While there are no quick fixes, the marriage counselor will help you navigate and cope with the intense emotions that come up when infidelity is discovered or disclosed. The marriage counselor will also help you bot understand if there were any underlying relationship problem that led to the infidelity or that made the relationship more vulnerable to infidelity. Then you will work together to address any underlying problems and develop a plan for moving forward in the relationship.
There are times when marriage counseling ay not be enough to help you recover from infidelity. If either partner is not committed to the process or refuses to take responsibility for their actions, then marriage counseling will be limited its ability to help you heal as a couple. In really severe cases such as addiction, intimate partner violence, and chronic ongoing affairs, individual mental health services may also be needed. Many couples recovering from infidelity also find that individual therapy, weekend workshops, intensive coupe therapy, group therapy or support groups can also be beneficial. When with all this support for your relationship, some couples still decide to separate or divorce when the pain is too much. It's important to know that while infidelity is devastating, it doesn't have to be the end of the relationship. Marriage counseling can help you rebuild trust and repair the relationship. Looking for marriage counseling to help with infidelity?
Elizabeth Polinsky Counseling can help! Liz provides online Emotionally Focused Couples Counseling, as well as weekend-long Marriage Intensives, throughout the states of Virginia, South Carolina, Arkansas, and Nevada. Click the button below to schedule a complimentary consult.
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My podcast, blogs, videos, newsletters, and products are general information for educational purposes only; they are not psychotherapy and not a replacement for therapy. The information provided is not intended to be therapy or psychological advice; and nothing I post should be considered professional advice. The information provided does not constitute the formation of a therapist-patient relationship. I cannot answer questions regarding your specific situation; you should consult your doctor or mental health provider regarding advice and support for your health and well being. If you are experiencing a medical or mental health emergency, you should call 911, report to your local ER, or call the National Crisis Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. The podcast, blogs, videos, newsletters, and products are not a request for a testimonial, rating, or endorsement from clients regarding counseling. If you are a current or former client/ patient, please remember that your comments may jeopardize your confidentiality. I will not “friend” or “follow” current or past clients to honor ethical boundaries and privacy; nor will I respond to comments or messages through social media or other platforms from current or past clients. Current and past client’s should only contact me through the professional contact information provided on the website. Lastly, accounts may be managed by multiple people. Therefore, comments and messages are monitored by staff and are not confidential.
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