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Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 46
J
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Posts: 46
Hi Everyone,
My WH and I are working on making it through his A. In a session with our marriage counselor, the counselor asked me if there was anyting my WH could do to earn my trust. I didn't have an answer! I couldn't come up with a list. I searched the internet and still can't come up with something to give me ideas on what might make me feel better about having him proactively earn my trust.
I am looking for advice/suggestions on what others have done, or had their FWS do, to earn back the trust. Thank you!

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Hi Joan! I would refer you to the article below as a great start, but in order to rebuild trust, your H will have to do the following:

1. end all contact FOR LIFE with his former affair partner

2. answer all of your questions completely and fully to your satisfaction

3. never spend the night apart

4. avoid being alone with other women - no opposite sex friends

5. don't go out without each other - merge your social lives completely

6. practice a life of compete transparency by giving you all passowords, access to all email accounts, cell phones, etc.

7. know where he is at all times

8. no participation in facebook, or other internet social networks

9. recover your marriage with the goal of creating romantic love - THIS IS THE GREATEST PROTECTION AGAINST ANOTHER AFFAIR

Now, this next point is very important. It is not important to BUILD TRUST, IT IS IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN SECURE BOUNDARIES. You should NOT trust your H. Too much trust is what leads to affairs.

It is not lack of trust that ruins marriages, but a LACK OF BOUNDARIES.

Just Compensation


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.." Theodore Roosevelt

Exposure 101


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And here is what it will take to recover your marriage:

Originally Posted by Dr Willard Harley
The plan I recommend for recovery after an affair is very specific. That's because I've found that even small deviations from that plan are usually disastrous. But when it's followed, it always works. The plan has two parts that must be implemented sequentially. The first part of the plan is for the unfaithful spouse to completely separate from the lover and eliminate the conditions that made the affair possible. The second part is for the couple to create a romantic relationship, using my Basic Concepts as a guide.

I'll describe these two parts to you in a little more detail.

The first step, complete separation from the lover and eliminating the conditions that made the affair possible, requires a complete understanding of the affair. All information regarding the affair must be revealed to the betrayed spouse, including the name of the lover, the conditions that made the affair possible (travel, internet, etc.), the details of what took place during the affair, all correspondence, and anything else that would shed light on the tragedy.

This information is important for two reasons: (1) it creates accountability and transparency, making it essentially impossible for the unfaithful spouse to continue the affair or begin a new one unnoticed, and (2) it creates trust for the betrayed spouse, providing evidence that the affair is over and a new one is unlikely to take its place. The nightmares you experience are likely to continue until you have the facts that
will lead to your assurance that your husband can be trusted.

An analysis of the betrayed spouse's childhood or emotional state of mind in an effort to discover why he or she would have an affair is distracting and unnecessary. It takes precious time away from finding the real solutions. I know why people have affairs: We are all wired for it. Given certain conditions, we would all do it. Given other conditions, however, none of us would do it. So the goal of the first step is to discover the conditions that made the affair possible and eliminate them.

After the first step is completed, the second step is to create a romantic relationship between you and your husband using my 10 Basic Concepts ht here
as your guide. While your relationship may be improving, it won't lead to a romantic relationship because you are not being transparent toward each other. Unspoken issues in a marital relationship lead to a superficiality that ruins romance.
Requirements for Recovery


"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena.." Theodore Roosevelt

Exposure 101


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Thank you for the suggestions, we are doing all of these already so it indicates we are on the right track...
Trust is so important to me, and I feel that I shouldn't be with someone I can't trust. The A took all the trust away and I am afraid it may never return!!
Do people who recover from an A ever get trust back?

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You will never again have BLIND trust in him, and you shouldn't.

Over time, however, as he proves himself over and over, you will grow to have what I would call "verifiable trust" in him.


"Your actions are so loud that I can't hear a word you're saying!"

BW M 44 yrs to still-foggy but now-faithful WH. What/how I post=my biz. Report any perceived violations to the Mods.
Joined: May 2002
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I have a different kind of trust. I don't have blind, naive trust. I do, however, trust that my H and I have learned about boundaries. I trust that we know there is no such thing as an innocent lunch with only one member of the opposite sex. I trust that we have learned other similar rules, or guidelines. I trust that we will tell one another honestly and proactively about our interactions with members of the opposite gender (like when a woman, a mutual friend, dropped by our house and I was not home but H was).

I also occasionally cross-check and verify what he says, and I expect him to do the same with me.

In other words, I trust that we now understand boundaries and that we will each do our part to ensure they are observed at all times. That's a much better trust than blind trust because it means we are actively involved in protecting our marriage.

Last edited by turtlehead; 02/27/10 05:30 PM.

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