Welcome to the
Marriage Builders® Discussion Forum

This is a community where people come in search of marriage related support, answers, or encouragement. Also, information about the Marriage Builders principles can be found in the books available for sale in the Marriage Builders® Bookstore.
If you would like to join our discussion forum, please read the Announcement Forum for instructions, rules, & guidelines.
The members of this community are peers and not professionals. Professional coaching is available by clicking on the link titled Coaching Center at the top of this page.
We trust that you will find the Marriage Builders® Discussion Forum to be a helpful resource for you. We look forward to your participation.
Once you have reviewed all the FAQ, tech support and announcement information, if you still have problems that are not addressed, please e-mail the administrators at mbrestored@gmail.com
Active Threads | Active Posts | Unanswered Today | Since Yesterday | This Week
In Recovery Jump to new posts
Re: Recovery Success BrainHurts 03/22/23 11:25 PM
Originally Posted by armymama
No idea why I ended up here this evening. It's not any kind of trigger date. There's nothing that made me think of H's affair so many years ago. We are doing well and will celebrate 41st anniversary in June. Hope you are well GY!

Hi armymama! So nice to see you! Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!
6 2,716 Read More
Marriage Builders 101 Jump to new posts
Re: Alone time SugarCane 03/18/23 09:38 PM
Originally Posted by TempName
Hi, I am a mother of two young boys and have been married to my husband for five years. Tonight I asked him to take the boys for an hour so I could have some alone time. I teach PreK and am with children from almost the time I wake up until shortly before I go to bed. However, my husband didn’t like/understand this question. I tried to explain how I felt but he still wasn’t comfortable with me feeling like I need an hour to myself. We decided to see what MB might recommend. Thank you.
Welcome to MB.

It isn't a good idea for you to dump your need to be alone on him suddenly after his own day that was probably full of mixed experiences. If he was looking forward to being together with you and the boys before their bedtimes, it might have been a bit insensitive for you to hand them to him and walk away.

It seems that the problem wasn't that you were looking after your own kids all day, but that you'd been teaching other young kids. Is there a way of refocusing your job so that you do not have so much face-to-face time with little ones? (Forgive me, I'm not sure what age-group "PreK" is or what the alternative might be.) Are your own kids of school age? Why are you with them until shortly before you go to bed - aren't you able to get at least two hours between their bedtimes and yours?

There are ways to brainstorm the problem, but you cannot begin to do this until you have discussed the whole issue with your husband. It is not a good idea to deal with this as and when it comes up - that leaves your husband thinking "Is it all about her? What about my needs?"

Dr Harley recommends planning the week together so that you both get time for work and travel and time for things that are important to you, including family time and dating. You could plan time for solo interests - nothing that is dangerous or risky to the marriage - in a way that does not imply that you need to get away from each other. You wouldn't have to plan every single week if you got into a routine that suited the stages your kids are at now.

I recommend reading His Needs Her Needs for Parents which will give you a wealth of ideas to resolve this problem.
3 78 Read More
Divorcing/Divorced Jump to new posts
Re: Averting Separation/Divorce Blackhawk 03/16/23 03:56 AM
I am not Dr. Harley of course and you should surely carry on your conversation with him and ask him directly. It is great he is supporting you directly.

But i can say that Dr. Harley has regularly been skeptical of 'therapy' that revisits past traumatic experiences. Why bring the past into the present? These experiences are a red herring and not the problem. They did not impact your marriage before the affair, did they?

The problem is the affair and not what happened in her childhood or in previous marriages. Please ask Dr. Harley his position and share with us if you are willing.
60 1,418 Read More
Surviving an Affair Jump to new posts
Re: “Soft Adultery” SugarCane 03/06/23 01:16 AM
Originally Posted by High Flight
Thanks Markos for the thoughtful reply. A few points to include to reach a deeper understanding:


2. Both of us know MANY marriages that have survived & thrived even during extended separation periods. WWII. Missionary Journeys. Long Distance Trucking. Airline careers. Executive travel. Etc. Here's a few names: Ken & Barbara M - 71 yr marriage (extensive exec travel & missionary journeys). Keith & Helen W - 68 yr marriage (WWII, Exec travel) Ralph & Blanche W - 48 yr marriage (long distance trucking). Ralph & Ann W 72 yr marriage (WWII, Exec travel). Bob & Joanne O - 17 yr marriage (Delta Airlines & USMC). Pete & Jo K - 20 yr marriage (exec travel & sales). John & Dawn H - 42 yr marriage (extensive mission travel, gone for months at a time).
Despite this list, posters here would prefer to take Dr Harley's advice, based on his experience with couples, which is much greater than yours will ever be. Did any of those marriages 'survive and thrive" through the affairs which some of them inevitably went through? How would you know? What if they simply did not tell you?

Even your personal experience with your own 3 marriages confirms Dr Harley's observations. In your first marriage, you had an affair, ended your marriage and married your affair partner. In that second marriage, she had an affair and ended the marriage. In this third marriage, your wife has had sexual encounters with her therapist. All these affairs have been facilitated by the long periods of time you have always spent away from home. I have no idea how you can defend spending 50% of the time away from your wife with this history. It's hardly a recommendation, and one would think you had learned by now.
12 645 Read More
Marriage Builders 101 Jump to new posts
Re: 3rd Marriage DagnyDrew 03/03/23 11:00 PM
Thank you- yes- I think it’s terrible.
I just asked him & he said he would talk to Dr Harley- he will do anything and doesn’t want it to be me pushing for our help.

So he will write an email tomorrow he says- I’ll let you guys know when Dr Harley will talk to him then.

Reason:
Tomorrow- he already set up a date to read through the entire start of Dr Harley to try to understand what he is saying. He wants to wait to read that and fill out questionnaires so he knows what this is all about.

If he doesn’t really become serious about this- then I already have my exit ready.
Thank you for the replies!
7 181 Read More
Forum Search
Who's Online Now
1 members (FutureNeuroPsy), 14 guests, and 61 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
IrishTurtle, Sanvi9, TempName, ChellyAlicia, DagnyDrew
71,754 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums67
Topics133,555
Posts2,322,901
Members71,755
Most Online3,185
Jan 27th, 2020
Building Marriages That Last A Lifetime
Copyright © 1995-2020, Marriage Builders®. All Rights Reserved.  |  Web Development by SunStar Media.
Site Navigation
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5