There’s plenty of advice out there focused on affair recovery and what married couples can do to rebuild trust after infidelity. There’s considerably less information available on how to move forward from an affair if you’re the other man or woman. How do you convince yourself it’s over and what do you tell the married person you’ve been seeing?Below, therapists from around the country share the advice they give
affair partners looking to disengage from an unhealthy relationship and move on with their lives for good.When your partner tells you they intend to leave their marriage,
you want to believe them; it’s easy to fall for false promises or half truths when you’re deeply invested in a relationship, said Alicia H. Clark, a psychologist in Washington,
D.C. It’s a lot harder to recognize that your partner likely hasn’t made any real attempts to break free from their primary relationship, she said.“An affair derives romance and passion from ‘what-could-be’
but that’s generally not sustainable,” Clark told HuffPost. “Avoiding reality only hurts you and the future you deserve with someone who can fully love you. Facing reality and your understandable disappointment is the first step in making yourself available for true love.”
