Overcoming Issues of Cheating and Rebuilding Trust – 6 Techniques
Are you in a relationship that has experienced infidelity? Here are 6 trust-building exercises to use after an affair.
Rebuilding trust and respect in your relationship after an affair can be difficult. Please read the six trusting-building exercises to help couples that have experienced an affair.
1. Be Open To Share Your Feelings
Overcoming issues of cheating begin creating space for constructive conversation. With your partner take time to talk openly about your thoughts and feelings. This can help you begin the healing process after infidelity. While communicating with your partner ensure that you are validating feelings, removing judgment or criticism, and speaking in an honest manner. Your ability to have a genuine honest conversation will help you create trust, heal after the affair, and move your relationship forward.
In what ways can you begin to share your thoughts and feeling with your partner?
2. Practice Healthy Boundaries In The Relationship
All relationships must have boundaries. Consider what boundaries you have in your life and relationship. Creating healthy boundaries in your relationship is essential to the process of rebuilding trust and deep connection. You can start with an honest conversation focused on safety, security, trust, limits, and the wants and needs of the relationship. For instance, one partner may share the boundary of needing personal space with the other.
What boundaries do you need in your relationship?
3. Take Personal Time For Yourself To Heal And Grow
After an affair, it is essential to engage in exercise and other self-care practices. You may find that it’s difficult to want to go for a walk or read a book. You may feel this strong need to drop everything in life and become hyper-focused on the affair. Please be cautious of this. You’ll find growth and healing when you participate in self-care while healing after an affair. As an example, consider dedicating specific time slots for talking about the affair and other time slots for self-care practices.
What self-care practices can you begin?
4. Become an Active Listener
Healing after an affair is directly connected to your active listening ability. What makes this challenging is that you will sometimes struggle with difficult conversations. An effective place to start is engaging in one deep and intentional conversation with your partner on overcoming cheating issues and rebuilding trust. Effective active listening includes that you are willing to remove defensiveness, practice compassion, and be willing to take ownership of your actions. Work with a couples counselor to begin healing and growing after an affair.
How can you start to be a better listener?
5. Create Consistency In Your Relationship
What was it like when you had the first conversation with your partner about cheating? Dealing with an affair is difficult. One place to start is with your schedule. Connect with your partner and talk about setting up a place and time to focus on moving forward and healing. When you think about creating consistency, please keep in mind the pillars needed to develop a healthy and sustainable foundation for your relationship. A foundation built on trust and not repeating past unhealthy habits or behaviors.
What areas in the relationship can you improve consistency in?
6. Take Ownership Over Your Actions
Healing after an affair requires that both parties take an honest look at their actions during the course of the relationship. What does not help is when one person is blamed for everything. Granted, there can be situations where this is applicable. I simply want you to explore if there were actions in the relationship that created distance and disconnect. If so, then the answer is that both have some work to do to improve the relationship. This is not to say that it was someone’s fault cheating took place. Instead, the purpose of encouraging both partners to take ownership is to create a space for mutual work.
In what ways have you engaged in self-sabotage during the relationship?
