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Originally Posted by falconrap
I'm sorry you feel you are wasting your time on me Melody. I emailed Steve with the concerns from the forum, including my own desire to do something, whether exposing the guy or just using his own guilt (which he seems to be susceptible too) by writing him to back off again (I may still send him something brief). Steve called me up today and let me know how he felt about the situation (he has all the details) and he believes that since communication hasn't happened in a month, and only once int the last 4, that I should hold off since doing so now will create a dust-up that will take time to get past. He wants me to focus on working doing what I am doing.

You are correct, we are wasting our time. Every time you don't want to follow Dr Harley's advice, you can drag your feet because you "have to ask Steve!" and then fish for the answer you desire. Why should any of us bother to post to you when you do that? It's obvious this is a conflict avoidance tactic.

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. I emailed Steve with the concerns from the forum, including my own desire to do something,

If you had any "desire" to expose the OM it would have been done, so this is not very honest.

I wish you the best..


"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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Originally Posted by falconrap
I'm sorry you feel you are wasting your time on me Melody. I emailed Steve with the concerns from the forum, including my own desire to do something, whether exposing the guy or just using his own guilt (which he seems to be susceptible too) by writing him to back off again (I may still send him something brief). Steve called me up today and let me know how he felt about the situation (he has all the details) and he believes that since communication hasn't happened in a month, and only once int the last 4, that I should hold off since doing so now will create a dust-up that will take time to get past. He wants me to focus on working doing what I am doing.

He says if any further communication occurs, all bets are off and that I should go forward, which I will.

Look...I've been wanting to pull the trigger on this for a while, but "things" keep happening that aren't normal, that tell me to just hold course. Earlier today I prayed for a specific answer on what I should do...and it came. Steve was very specific on why exposure at this moment won't serve much of a purpose. I understand is thinking, even if I am mixed on my view of it. He was adamant that if communication occurs again that I do indeed fully expose his side. I'm going to trust his judgement, since my WW has agreed with the principles, has gone forward with reading HNHN, and since her psychiatrist is reaffirming HNHN other in her sessions there. I'll see this weekend if she is opening up to the possibility of doing the program. My first goal is to get her to the point where she willing has a discussion with Steve so that we can see where she truly is and whether or not I have to take further measures on the affair front. She's becoming depressed again, as the communication is 0, and I know this impacts her thoughts of him negatively. Personally, I don't think this affair can withstand the repeated strain of a lack of communication for extended periods of time, but I worry, as you all do, about resets.

I'll keep everyone updated as things progress.


Please, do keep us updated. As Steve Harley is a Marriage Builders professional, I'm willing to bet that he just might... Oh, I don't know... know what he is talking about.


"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr

"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer

"Fair speech may hide a foul heart." - Samwise Gamgee LOTR
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Originally Posted by HoldHerHand
Please, do keep us updated. As Steve Harley is a Marriage Builders professional, I'm willing to bet that he just might... Oh, I don't know... know what he is talking about.

And..........so might Dr Harley. I think he is..........um I don't know, the FOUNDER of Marriage Builders? think The fact is that this poster is adamant against exposing the affair and is using Steve Harley as an excuse not to expose. He concocted a multitude of excuses to avoid exposing over the past few weeks and is clearly avoiding it.

I can envision a conversation that went something like this: "Steve, I really, really don't want to expose and the forum is pressuring me to expose. MY WIFE WILL KILL ME! Do I have to??" And Steve, who is not going to push anyone into doing something against their will gives him a reprieve if he will agree to expose if it happens again.

We would all be in great trouble here if we had to get coaching from Steve Harley to do what Dr Harley tells us to do right off the bat. Exposure does not hurt recovery, it helps it. And this poster needs all the help he can get.


"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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If falcon were making a STATEMENT that he was going to follow Dr. Harley's plan and EXPOSE (or, already DID expose), I feel quite certain that SH would support that action and give falcon guidance on what to expect/do FOLLOWING the exposure bomb killing the affair.

That he is reporting that he seems to be asking SH for 'permission' to expose, or advice on if/when to expose, casts doubt for me about what info SH is receiving.

The conversation with SH, to me anyway, would sound something like this:

Falcon: 'okay SH, I COMPLETED my exposure by exposing the OM/OM's side on 1/9/13. This is my status now....what counsel can you give me?"

SH: "okay, FR, now that exposure is COMPLETE, here's what you can expect, and here's a plan for you and WW..."

Something like that, you know? Just my tired .02...

Last edited by helpfordad; 01/09/13 08:23 PM.
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Agree helpfordad. And if he really wanted to expose, he would have just done it. He didn't need to put it off with a myriad of ever changing excuses. SH is just the most recent excuse in a long line of others.


"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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blush

I speak from experience, you know, learning the hard way.

I wish he would listen to me and learn from my mistakes...effective exposure sooner rather than later ends affairs and gives a marriage a fighting chance to recover...

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Originally Posted by MelodyLane
Originally Posted by HoldHerHand
Please, do keep us updated. As Steve Harley is a Marriage Builders professional, I'm willing to bet that he just might... Oh, I don't know... know what he is talking about.

And..........so might Dr Harley. I think he is..........um I don't know, the FOUNDER of Marriage Builders? think The fact is that this poster is adamant against exposing the affair and is using Steve Harley as an excuse not to expose. He concocted a multitude of excuses to avoid exposing over the past few weeks and is clearly avoiding it.

I can envision a conversation that went something like this: "Steve, I really, really don't want to expose and the forum is pressuring me to expose. MY WIFE WILL KILL ME! Do I have to??" And Steve, who is not going to push anyone into doing something against their will gives him a reprieve if he will agree to expose if it happens again.

We would all be in great trouble here if we had to get coaching from Steve Harley to do what Dr Harley tells us to do right off the bat. Exposure does not hurt recovery, it helps it. And this poster needs all the help he can get.
Okay, I was with falcon from the beginning and I can, in a way, see why his head is spinning. He's being told to NOT expose at the moment by Steve, yet Dr. Harley fully endorses exposure at the onset of DDay and I (and plenty of others) shoved him in that direction as well. My paraphrased words to him way back when were, "You were great out the gate, but you need to finish the job". He hemmed and hawed and didn't finish that job. Why? I have no idea.

He now states that he has wanted to do it forever, but didn't do it when we all told him it was the biggest mistake to trickle this out..and so far that has been proven to be true, as it pretty much always is. (Don't deny this falcon. We all warned you months ago of this, and now it has come to pass)

The biggest question I have with this is about consistency. Why aren't Steve and the good doctor on the same page? It does seem it bit contradictory that the son of the founder of this website and methods advises against the methods that his father founded. This POSOM broke NC on his own accord after months of NC, and Steve is suggesting to letting it slide again just because it only happened once? What if it happens again in six months? 12 months? 2 years?

I really don't understand this at all. You can't even come close to recovering anything until all the elements that led to this situation have been eradicated...and they aren't even close to that. The door is still wide-assed open. WW and POSOM are just biding their time, as he has had to suffer no consequences and, really, neither has she...so why should they stop pining for one another?

This is a train wreck just waiting to happen.


Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Like I said, Viper, Steve is not known for forcing someone to do something against his will and it is clear to me that falcon does not want to do this. [or he would have done it] There was absolutely no reason to "ask" Steve in the first place.

Exposure is a very basic method that is encouraged by Dr Harley and Steve Harley alike. ARe there diminishing returns on a 2nd exposure? Sure, but this is not a 2nd exposure; the OM has not been exposed yet.

This experience has made me wonder what other things have been skipped or glossed over. With such a timid approach to such a basic move, there are bound to be other things, which may explain the lack of recovery here.


"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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I guess the point I'm really trying to make is that if he had listened to the board from the onset (and done what he was instructed to do), he probably never would have had a need to talk to Steve in the first place.


Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Well, I see we cross posted and said pretty much the same thing.


Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


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I think you should just follow Steve's advice.

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My husband and I coached with Steve, he's 100% MB principals orientated but he can't make anyone do anything. He coaches, he explains things and he has a specific road he gets you to travel, he sets up tasks for the spouses to do in between sessions then reviews the results. If for some reason we didn't manage a task he is aware that his service is costing money and moves on to the next task to avoid incurring extra sessions especially if he's getting nowhere with something (like getting Falcon to expose).

He has coached hundreds of people, he knows when someone isn't willing to do something.

If Falcon made half the excuses he made for us Steve has no choice but to move on from exposure but I'm sure he explained the downfalls of not completing exposure (or maybe he wasn't even told the full story of how weak the first exposure was).

I don't understand how a man can stand back and let the guy who was violating his wife and marriage get off Scott free or allow a woman who has disrespected him and their marriage to lead the recovery her way and be scared of her wrath.

It's frankly too cringeworthy to watch and there are plenty more BS here right now that need the help of the forum.

Falcon has Steve and if he is hiding things from him or lying to him about things he's only hurting himself and his marriage.

Last edited by NB28; 01/09/13 09:06 PM.

BW 36(Me)
WS 38
Married: 2000
DD1November 22 2008 - DD2 October 2014
PA Duration September 08 - November 08
Second discovery- 6 online affairs 4 sexual one emotional. October 2014.kids: DS 17, DS 14, DS 12, DS 10 . Baby after divorce DS 18months

Divorced

Was misled into thinking we were in recovery for 6 years.

If you were shocked reading any of this, that this is the consequence of not following MB to the LETTER.

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Originally Posted by Jedi_Knight
I think you should just follow Steve's advice.

Which just happens to coincide with falcon's "desires."


"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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Originally Posted by MelodyLane
Originally Posted by HoldHerHand
Please, do keep us updated. As Steve Harley is a Marriage Builders professional, I'm willing to bet that he just might... Oh, I don't know... know what he is talking about.

And..........so might Dr Harley. I think he is..........um I don't know, the FOUNDER of Marriage Builders? think The fact is that this poster is adamant against exposing the affair and is using Steve Harley as an excuse not to expose. He concocted a multitude of excuses to avoid exposing over the past few weeks and is clearly avoiding it.

I can envision a conversation that went something like this: "Steve, I really, really don't want to expose and the forum is pressuring me to expose. MY WIFE WILL KILL ME! Do I have to??" And Steve, who is not going to push anyone into doing something against their will gives him a reprieve if he will agree to expose if it happens again.

We would all be in great trouble here if we had to get coaching from Steve Harley to do what Dr Harley tells us to do right off the bat. Exposure does not hurt recovery, it helps it. And this poster needs all the help he can get.


Unless you are claiming to be more familiar with this program than Steve, I don't see the point in you attempting to visualize, conceptualize, or fabricate anything.

You know very well that exposure is a recent addition to this program, and that Dr. Harley saved thousands of marriages, for decades, before it was introduced into the fold.

Either that, or I suggest you lodge a formal complaint that an MB coach isn't applying the program properly.


"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr

"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer

"Fair speech may hide a foul heart." - Samwise Gamgee LOTR
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Originally Posted by MelodyLane
Like I said, Viper, Steve is not known for forcing someone to do something against his will and it is clear to me that falcon does not want to do this. [or he would have done it] There was absolutely no reason to "ask" Steve in the first place.
Yep, it would certainly appear that there is something other than rocking the boat that is holding him back from exposing the OM, but I won't say what I'm pretty damned sure it is.


Every man I meet is in some way my superior; and in that I can learn of him.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson


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Originally Posted by Viper
Originally Posted by MelodyLane
Originally Posted by HoldHerHand
Please, do keep us updated. As Steve Harley is a Marriage Builders professional, I'm willing to bet that he just might... Oh, I don't know... know what he is talking about.

And..........so might Dr Harley. I think he is..........um I don't know, the FOUNDER of Marriage Builders? think The fact is that this poster is adamant against exposing the affair and is using Steve Harley as an excuse not to expose. He concocted a multitude of excuses to avoid exposing over the past few weeks and is clearly avoiding it.

I can envision a conversation that went something like this: "Steve, I really, really don't want to expose and the forum is pressuring me to expose. MY WIFE WILL KILL ME! Do I have to??" And Steve, who is not going to push anyone into doing something against their will gives him a reprieve if he will agree to expose if it happens again.

We would all be in great trouble here if we had to get coaching from Steve Harley to do what Dr Harley tells us to do right off the bat. Exposure does not hurt recovery, it helps it. And this poster needs all the help he can get.
Okay, I was with falcon from the beginning and I can, in a way, see why his head is spinning. He's being told to NOT expose at the moment by Steve, yet Dr. Harley fully endorses exposure at the onset of DDay and I (and plenty of others) shoved him in that direction as well. My paraphrased words to him way back when were, "You were great out the gate, but you need to finish the job". He hemmed and hawed and didn't finish that job. Why? I have no idea.

He now states that he has wanted to do it forever, but didn't do it when we all told him it was the biggest mistake to trickle this out..and so far that has been proven to be true, as it pretty much always is. (Don't deny this falcon. We all warned you months ago of this, and now it has come to pass)

The biggest question I have with this is about consistency. Why aren't Steve and the good doctor on the same page? It does seem it bit contradictory that the son of the founder of this website and methods advises against the methods that his father founded. This POSOM broke NC on his own accord after months of NC, and Steve is suggesting to letting it slide again just because it only happened once? What if it happens again in six months? 12 months? 2 years?

I really don't understand this at all. You can't even come close to recovering anything until all the elements that led to this situation have been eradicated...and they aren't even close to that. The door is still wide-assed open. WW and POSOM are just biding their time, as he has had to suffer no consequences and, really, neither has she...so why should they stop pining for one another?

This is a train wreck just waiting to happen.

I have also Been on falcons thread since the beginning.
And this isn't the first time there appears to be contradictory advice.
However dr Harley clearly states that his advice can be changed based on specific situations.
Falcon has make a great step in consulting Steve Harley and I think he should follow the advice he receives from Harley.

In my own experience posters discounted that my wife's relatives told me she was mentally ill. After I emailed Dr Harley he said she probably has a mental disorder. The Court investigator ordered her to see a psychiatrist. So the posters are not always 100% correct and the disclaimer clearly states that.


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Originally Posted by HoldHerHand
Unless you are claiming to be more familiar with this program than Steve, I don't see the point in you attempting to visualize, conceptualize, or fabricate anything.

I am just as familiar with Dr. Harley's standard exposure advice as Steve and so are most of the posters here. We can all read Dr Harley's advice on exposure. We can all hear his words on the radio every day. It is common knowledge.

Quote
You know very well that exposure is a recent addition to this program, and that Dr. Harley saved thousands of marriages, for decades, before it was introduced into the fold.

Complete and total nonsense. Dr Harley has advocated exposure for YEARS. Nothing recent about it. There are exposure posts over on the private forum from 2000 and Dr Harley discusses giving this advice 20+ years ago when he was in private practice.

But that is beside the point. The point is that he recommends it and we can all read his words and listen to him talking about it every day on the radio.

Quote
Either that, or I suggest you lodge a formal complaint that an MB coach isn't applying the program properly.

I don't believe the "coach" is the problem as I explained above.


"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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Originally Posted by Jedi_Knight
[
In my own experience posters discounted that my wife's relatives told me she was mentally ill. After I emailed Dr Harley he said she probably has a mental disorder. The Court investigator ordered her to see a psychiatrist. So the posters are not always 100% correct and the disclaimer clearly states that.

The reason this was questioned is because no one has ever diagnosed your wife. You and her relatives have just guessed based on symptoms you looked up on the internet. Dr Harley obviously did not diagnose your wife and said "probably;" based on your own description in your email.

I am certainly not denying she may be mentally ill, but you state this as if it is a fact and it is not.


"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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Colleagues, colleagues, tread lightly, or friend FR will get vexed with you.

When I pointed out during his second-most recent backtrack on exposure (14 December) that it was obvious that the conflict that exposure would precipitate was transparently not to his liking, I was told:

NG, I have never liked your attitude. I see you come across so harsh and crass with other people.

So it quite annoys me watching several of my esteemed peers demonstrating the same "harsh and crass" attitude that I have staked as my MB MO.

Please stop!

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When Dr H agreed with you that your W probably had a mental disorder, did that change the advice he gave you on how to survive the A the MB way??

Many WS and BS have used mental disorders, childhood abuse, alcoholism and drug taking as excuses for their behaviour yet the advice on how to save your marriage stays the same.


BW 36(Me)
WS 38
Married: 2000
DD1November 22 2008 - DD2 October 2014
PA Duration September 08 - November 08
Second discovery- 6 online affairs 4 sexual one emotional. October 2014.kids: DS 17, DS 14, DS 12, DS 10 . Baby after divorce DS 18months

Divorced

Was misled into thinking we were in recovery for 6 years.

If you were shocked reading any of this, that this is the consequence of not following MB to the LETTER.

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