Infidelity recovery / INF-A13-5
Grief for the Assumed Relationship — Review journal
Review an attempt at grief for the assumed relationship and choose what to keep, change, or leave aside.
10 minutes · Journal prompts · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Lee misses the certainty they previously felt.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Grief can concern lost expectations as well as the relationship's future.
Before looking back
Choose one ordinary attempt or decide to review the fictional example instead. This journal has no scores, required disclosure, or expectation of progress.
Revisit the practice
Name expectations or meanings that changed and identify support without prescribing stages or closure.
Notice context and impact
Record what actually happened, including an unhelpful or neutral outcome. Note resources, power differences, accessibility, and changed conditions rather than attributing everything to personal effort.
Choose a revision
What loss needs acknowledgment without being rushed toward a lesson? Keep the approach, change one part, ask for support, or set it aside. A mismatch is useful information.
Prompts for this resource
- What I tried, or what happened in the fictional example:
- What I noticed before, during, and after; what remains uncertain:
- What helped, did not help, or was outside my control:
- What loss needs acknowledgment without being rushed toward a lesson? My optional adjustment or support request:
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.