Infidelity recovery / INF-A06-2
Accountability without Defensiveness — Practice worksheet
Draft a statement that owns a known action, acknowledges impact, and offers a concrete next step without blaming the hurt partner.
15 minutes · Worksheet · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Quinn wants to acknowledge a broken agreement without explaining it away.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Accountability can name choices and impact without demanding immediate trust.
1. Choose a workable example
Use the fictional example below or an ordinary situation of your choosing. Keep identifying details out of shared copies.
2. Try the practice
Draft a statement that owns a known action, acknowledges impact, and offers a concrete next step without blaming the hurt partner.
3. Compare possibilities
Generate at least two interpretations or options. Mark what you know, what you are guessing, and what remains outside your control.
4. Decide together
What can be owned plainly? Choose one small action, a support request, or no action. Review the fit with your clinician when relevant.
Prompts for this resource
- My chosen or fictional situation, and what I know about it:
- My response to the practice task above:
- What can be owned plainly?
- An optional next step, support, adaptation, or reason to stop:
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.