Infidelity recovery / INF-A09-3
Transparency with Consent — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about transparency with consent while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Lee and Quinn consider how to discuss future contact without exchanging every password.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Transparency should be negotiated rather than imposed through coercive monitoring.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore transparency with consent using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Transparency should be negotiated rather than imposed through coercive monitoring. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Compare information-sharing options, privacy needs, limits, and the right to seek independent guidance. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Lee and Quinn consider how to discuss future contact without exchanging every password.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What would informed consent look like for this arrangement? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What would informed consent look like for this arrangement?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
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.