Tina Pittman Wagers | PubMed Health

PubMed2005

Assessing relationship betrayals.

Relationship betrayals, such as sexual and emotional infidelity, are commonly encountered in the practice of psychotherapy, yet clinicians often report difficulties in assessing and treating them. In this article we offer suggestions for assessing relationship betrayals. We address the definition of relationship betrayals, methods of assessing relationship betrayals, when and whom to assess, confidentiality, and assessing related clinical concerns. We illustrate with case vignettes the assessment and treatment of betrayals in close relationships.

Confidentiality↗

PubMed2005

Teaching fidelity.

Working therapeutically with individuals or couples either following an affair or prior to its occurrence requires teaching them about risks to monogamy and the challenges of recovering from infidelity. Risks to monogamy include cultural myths about both infidelity and marriage that may be shared not only by lay persons, but also by their ill-informed therapists. Exacerbating risks to fidelity are physiological components of emotional and physical attraction that contribute to cognitive and affective disorientation. Therapists can promote fidelity and recovery from infidelity by attending to the fundamental tasks of modeling compassion, debunking myths regarding infidelity, confronting individuals with their own choices, promoting emotional closeness, and helping individuals to understand both their own and their partner's learned attitudes that distract them from maintaining a faithful marriage. Several cases illustrate these fundamental therapeutic tasks.

Adaptation, Psychological↗