Although infidelity is not uncommon, there is reason to assume that the marriage can still be saved since adultery occurs in 78% of marriages in the United States. The thing is, although it can seem like the beginning of the end of a marriage, adultery can also be the start of a much deeper, more intimate connection.
Can a Marriage Be Saved After Infidelity?
Even though it hurts to learn about an affair, your relationship can still be saved with the right support. Affair is like a disease’s symptom. Couples have the potential to succeed if properly treated. Don’t view infidelity and emotional affairs as a place where a couple just happens to end up in. In actuality, happily married couples don’t engage in extramarital affairs.
How Does Marriage Counseling Work?
In marriage therapy, a qualified therapist meets face-to-face or virtually with both parties to work on their relationship. In contrast to solo therapy, couples therapy is more likely to concentrate on how partners treat one another. For instance, in couples therapy, it is recognized that a client’s depression affects not only the individual but also the quality of their relationship.
Does Marriage Counseling Help After Infidelity?
Marriage counseling may be able to help following a case of infidelity, even though no therapist can make everything better in just one session. Healing is possible, but it will take some time to comprehend the full extent of the relationship issues. One study identified specific advantages for married couples who survived affairs, such as improved assertiveness, better self-care, a higher value placed on family, and a higher priority placed on husband and wife communication.
The Advantages of Marriage Counseling After an Affair
A split in our perception of reality might result from affairs. Experiencing this kind of treachery may completely unmoor a person. However, there are advantages to going to marriage counseling after an affair, such as improved comprehension, restored closeness and trust, improved communication, and a decrease in PTSD symptoms (PTSD).
Marriage counseling may assist couples after an affair in the following ways.
1. Understand How the Affair Happened
Couples counseling can assist the betrayed partner (as well as the offender) in better comprehending how the affair developed so that it no longer appears to be a random, unplanned event. A person will be more ready to begin the healing process the more they can feel that their life is predictable.
2. Identify Pre-Existing Problems In the Relationship
Couples therapy can assist in locating any underlying issues, patterns, or warning signs that may have existed prior to the affair. By investigating these warning signs, the pair can develop more effective interaction and communication techniques.
3. Rekindle Intimacy
A perceptive therapist can tell whether a couple is not using oxytocin to maintain their link as deep and intimate by listening to them discuss their patterns. The therapist can then instruct clients on how to resume certain contact sessions, such as holding hands as they watch Netflix or crossing one leg over the other while reading in bed with a partner.
Even without being sexual, skin-to-skin contact can increase intimacy. Many couples with kids fall into a poor routine where they neglect touching each other. Our connecting and nurturing hormone, oxytocin, is released when we are physically touched.
4. Address Childhood Wounds
Good couples therapists can also explore childhood traumas, especially specific attachment disorders, that may have influenced the affair. When a partner or spouse ignores these childhood wounds and repeatedly treads on them, it can result in avoidance, which is an excellent environment for an affair to start.
Conclusion
Overall, marriage counseling can be a helpful approach after infidelity. It can provide a safe space for couples to discuss the affair and work through the emotions that they are experiencing. It can also help couples to rebuild trust and intimacy.
If you are looking for an institution that offers couples therapy, look no further than our services here at Riverbend Life Strategies. We specialize in coaching and counseling for the sensitive soul. Call us today to book your first couples therapy session with us.
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