"Yet, despite the monumental betrayal and the intense pain she felt in the aftermath of the discovery, the woman wasn't certain she wanted a divorce. In the weeks that followed the discovery, her husband showed a part of himself she hadn't seen for years, a part that she had craved for decades. The decision to stay or go was secondary to dealing with unbearable pain she was experiencing each day. The pain, she said, was debilitating."
"I know you won't believe me now, and for that matter, why should you? But I promise you that you will not always feel the way you are feeling in this moment. I know it seems as if you will never feel yourself again, that you will never feel joy, that, even if things get better between you and your husband, the triggers will follow you endlessly and your life will be filled with depression and anxiety."
A wife discovered that her husband had a 17-year affair, producing profound betrayal and daily, debilitating pain. Their adult sons urged her to leave, yet she felt uncertain about divorce as her husband began showing a long-missed caring side. Decision-making became secondary to surviving overwhelming distress, with mornings marked by disbelief and difficulty functioning. A therapist offered explicit reassurance that the intense despair would not be permanent and that recovery and renewed capacity for joy were possible. Hope and predictions of positive futures are presented as therapeutic tools that increase the likelihood of emotional healing.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]