Counseling for Adultery and Infidelity – Therapists in Westminster, CO
Heath had been married for several years when he began seeing another woman. His relationship with his wife had been strained for a long time. While he wasn’t inclined toward dishonesty, his inability to calm his wife’s constant concerns over where he was and what he was doing led him to seek a romantic interaction where he felt valued and trusted.
Heath’s situation eventually led to discovery and deeply hurt feelings—on both sides. He attempted to reconcile with his wife but was unable to get past her attitude toward him, and his actions didn’t exactly lead his wife to less concern over his daily activities.
Heath and his wife would have been candidates for infidelity counseling. A Thriveworks Westminster counselor would have worked with the couple to both recover from the pain and distrust of infidelity and address the issues at the core of their relationship struggles.
Infidelity is a phenomenon recognized across the globe. It occurs in almost all cultures and at surprisingly consistent rates. In the US, any given relationship has about a 25 percent chance of infidelity occurring at some point over the lifetime of the relationship. Almost as universal as the prevalence of infidelity is the condemnation of it. It is very rare for a culture or society to regard infidelity as something acceptable.
If you are the partner who has stepped outside the relationship, one of the most difficult things to get over can be your own guilt. Even if your partner can forgive you, the societal judgment toward infidelity that may be ingrained on your psyche can make it difficult to forgive yourself.
Considering the serious consequences of adultery for a relationship, some may find it hard to understand why this phenomenon is so prevalent. Here are some of the more common reasons behind infidelity:
- Emotional dissatisfaction in a relationship
- Feeling of powerlessness
- A wish to end the relationship
- Marital conflicts over matters unrelated to betrayal, major life developments, depression of one spouse
- Low self-esteem, sex or romance addiction, a desire to boost one’s ego and social recognition, a drive to experience pleasure and excitement
Infidelity and the Impact on a Relationship
The impact of infidelity on a relationship is hard to understand. Primarily, feelings of grief will often overwhelm the victim. But once the grief has cleared, feelings such as intense distrust, a sense of instability, damage to the victim’s self-esteem, and a shift in one’s entire perspective on life can develop. The act of infidelity doesn’t just affect the betrayed spouse; it may have a ripple effect through the entire family structure. It can often lead to divorce, which obviously influences the children within a relationship. It can, for example, affect the way that children think about their parents or lead them to develop feelings similar to the victim. If a couple stays together but doesn’t work through the issues surrounding the affair, living in an unhappy household can lead to depression for the children or the parents.
You deserve to have the most fulfilling relationship possible. If you or your partner has stepped outside your relationship, contact Thriveworks Westminster counseling. Our experienced counselors can work with you to heal the pain of infidelity and address the issues that caused it in the first place.
How Can Counseling Help?
Counseling for infidelity is not a quick-fix method that will magically resolve the situation. It takes effort and a willingness to eventually forgive. Forgiveness and rebuilding trust will be tough, but a good counselor will help both spouses find a way toward a solution to the problem. He or she will work with the clients to equip them with the tools and mechanisms that should allow them to communicate constructively with one another.
Counseling for infidelity won’t simply focus on healing the aftermath of an affair. While counseling for infidelity will begin with telling the counselor the basic details of your extramarital affair, the counseling sessions are focused on rehabilitating your marriage, not rehashing the affair. Your counselor will work with you to determine what caused the partner to step outside the relationship in the first place. It’s likely there are some unaddressed issues within the relationship—lack of communication being key in many situations. Or, one partner may feel they have no agency in the relationship, and so he or she stepped out in order to find that sense of equanimity with a partner.
Whatever the cause of the infidelity, there’s no denying how painful it is to work through. In fact, without professional help it can feel almost impossible. With each partner absorbed in their own feelings about the situation, it can feel difficult to step outside their own feelings to acknowledge their partner’s, let alone develop a plan to reestablish trust and intimacy in a healthy way. A counselor can help. Counseling can also help you develop techniques and communication skills to strengthen your relationship and help you get through any future difficulties.
Thriveworks Westminster Counseling for Infidelity
The experienced counselors at Thriveworks Westminster offer support to couples who have suffered as a result of infidelity. Thanks to our depth of experience, we understand that there is no “one size fits all” approach to designing an effective therapy. We tailor our sessions to ensure that you and your partner’s needs and expectations are met in the best way possible. We don’t keep a waiting list.
Finding an answer to the problems that infidelity brings is possible—Thriveworks Westminster is there to help. So why not call us today to arrange your first infidelity counseling session.
Further Reading
Grohol, John M. Psy.D. “How Common Is Cheating & Infidelity Really?” PsychCentral.com.
