Infidelity recovery / INF-A03-1
Safety before Joint Work — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind safety before joint work and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: A fictional person fears punishment for asking questions about a relationship breach.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Joint repair depends on freedom from coercion, violence, and retaliation.
The idea
Joint repair depends on freedom from coercion, violence, and retaliation.
An ordinary example
A fictional person fears punishment for asking questions about a relationship breach.
What this can look like
Privately identify questions about safety and control to discuss with a clinician before any joint disclosure or vulnerability exercise.
Check the fit
What assessment or individual support must come first? You may disagree with the framing, use fiction, or decide that this approach is not useful today.
A useful distinction
Understanding relationship context does not transfer responsibility for deception to the hurt partner or require a particular relationship outcome.
Prompts for this resource
- What part of this idea makes sense to me?
- What assessment or individual support must come first?
Conceptual background
Integrative Model of Affair Recovery — American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.