Relationship Trust Betrayals
There are several ways to breech trust in a relationship. One of these is having an emotional or physical affair with someone outside of your relationship agreement. If you are the person who has been betrayed, then I imagine that you are feeling alone, angry, confused, questioning your whole existence and your relationship, hyperviligant, wondering what else don’t you know about? These are normal feelings in the aftermath of something like an affair.
Professional relationship counsellors are trained specifically in this area and you can reach out for assistance. The good news is that if a couple choses to stay together then they can recover their relationship and make it even better than it was previously (yes it is possible!). The bad news is that not all relationships survive however counselling does help individuals communicate better than they have ever done in the past, understand what went wrong and identify strategies to support and understand each other in new a way. Either way, counselling can and does help when a couple is in crisis.
Reasons for relationship affairs?
Some of the reasons that someone might have an affair include seeking reassurance that they are attractive/felt invisible/unimportant, insignificant, felt numb, craved intensity, need to feel loved, didn’t feel wanted, felt entitled, perhaps it was an out of character, drunken lustful or insecure regretted one off mistake.
Some of the issues explored in relationship counselling include:
- Explore reasons and meaning behind affair
- Strategies to deal with current relationship crisis
- Communication skills
- Establishing boundaries
- Roadmap to regaining trust
- Exploring current crisis as opportunity for personal and relationship growth