Confronting the Other Women: Drama X 3

Don’t need this juice in my life… read this Case Study:

1. What was your purpose for confronting the OP and what did you say/do?

My purpose was to tell all 3….that I found out about their affairs with my husband, and to let them know what I think of them…sluts. And never to contact him again, or they will have to deal with me.

2. What happened? What was the outcome?

One just walked away from me angry, and has avoided me and my husband every since whenever we unfortunately would run into her, and on one occasion, she spit on the ground after my husband walked by…I was behind him walking and saw it. The second one we had a decent 2 hour phone conversation, but she tried contacting him again on his cell phone, as she is one of his clients, and said she was inquiring about some work being done at her house, and said she wasn’t getting any answers from his staff, so went directly to him. I sent her an email, reminding her that we (my husband and I) had sent her a text message from his phone saying never to contact him again, to deal with his staff instead…in my email I also said if she still has a problem with the staff, to either go above my husband to the owner, and I gave her his cell phone number, or, contact me and I will make sure her work gets done, and gave her my cell number, and I also told her if she is still not satisfied, then I suggest she find herself another company to do her work, there are plenty of them out there hungry for the work. With the third one, I showed up at a bar that she and my husband were at, I had found out, and told her to get out, and never contact my husband again. Both of them were very angry at me, too bad. Tough nuggies and all of that. She turned on her heel and left. She called the next day to talk to my husband again on his cell phone, about the previous night confrontation, so I called her back that night when I found out about her phone call from my husband….I called on his cell phone so that she would pick up, and I spelled out specifically that she is to never contact him again, that he has been trying to get rid of her (he told me this himself), and am I making myself perfectly clear, or do I have to go to her house or work (I knew where both were), and tell her in person? She said nothing, and hung up. Never heard from them again since. Also, on the third one, my husband said he was actually glad I showed up at the bar because that ended it…he had “no idea” how to end it with her, and I did the trick. I am sick of this. I feel like his mother. I have my own boyfriends now, that he is too stupid to stumble upon, as I was too smart to stumble upon his 3, maybe their are or have been more, though, I don’t know…yet, anyway.

3. If you were to do it again, would you do it differently? What did you learn?

I wouldn’t do it again because I did it 3 times, 3 times too many…I am not putting up with any more of his affairs again…if I find out, I don’t care anymore…I have my own “friends” now…I would just keep it to myself…or divorce him…but, he has alot of money, so, why? I have a great life otherwise, with our children too, don’t have to worry about money thank God and live in a beautiful house in a beautiful area…and am a very good looking woman, so, now, I don’t turn down any advances anymore…it ain’t too bad! I’ve lost all love for him after finding out about these affairs, so, what does it matter anymore…who cares.

Stuck in the Triangle after Confronting the Other Woman

When confronting the other person always keep in the front of your mind the triangle – you, your spouse and the other person. You are not merely confronting the other person; you are confronting the dynamics of the triangle.

Confronting the other person brings the affair front and center. No more hiding – the fact of the affair, at least.

However, confronting may not change the dynamics of the triangle. Over time, the dynamics of the triangle may stabilize and the three parties live with an “unspoken agreement” to co-exist due to a variety of personal needs, as in the case study below.

In the case study, the responsibility for telling the other person to “back off” lies with the husband. He refuses.

In refusing, he either ignores the needs and pain of his spouse or he rides roughshod over them with perhaps passive aggressive behavior.

A strategy for this wounded wife to become “unstuck” is to mercilessly and relentlessly confront her husband with her pain, her personal needs, and her definition of emotional entanglement, as well as elicit from him his personal needs in regards to the third party.

The wounded spouse does this, of course, by charging neutral.

Case Study:

1. What was your purpose for confronting the OP and what did you say/do?

To tell her to back off. My husband and I wanted to sort out our marriage, but with them still being partners together she was with him all the time, and she kept discussing all her personal issues with him which I wanted her to stop.

2. What happened? What was the outcome?

She first said she would back off as she did not want to be the cause of a marriage breakup, and that if my husband left me then it would be because he wanted to and there was nothing left to work on and not because of her. But as time went by she still talks to him about all her problems in life and even though its nearly two yrs down the line and the affair is over they still have a very emotional connection that I cannot get my husband to understand cannot be. But she also does not stop.

3. If you were to do it again, would you do it differently? What did you learn?

I don’t know how i would do it differently, but yes I would do it again, as every now and then I still mail her and say she is going too far, but she now just ignores me and does what she wants, and they still work together every day. What did I learn – that is does help to get nasty with the other person no matter what anyone tells you and it still gives me joy when I contact her that at least she knows my husband is telling me what she tells him, and that now matter what she will not stop telling my hubby all her personal issues and my hubby does not tell her either to stop talking about it, so I either have to live with it or give up 24yrs of marraige.

Getting the Truth from a Cheating Husband

This case study illustrates the importance of what I call charging neutral. The bottom line: place yourself in a position in which you, with an inner calm and strength, can state your position and concerns, your version of the truth, with clarity.

Few words. Powerful, pointed words, however.

Charging neutral is easier said than done. It took this woman 2 months to get to the point where she was ready. Note what she had to do to get to that point of confronting him with power, calm and the truth.

Case Study:

When I suspected he was having an affair, I suffered not knowing for sure. I had low self-esteem because I was overweight, so before I confronted him, I worked out for two months. I told myself I had to look better in order to empower myself through better self-esteem. When I looked better, I wrote him a long letter and asked him to read it, discussing our marriage, my feelings, his bad treatment of me, but didn’t mention the affair suspicions. I wanted to confront him with that face to face to see his eyes, his reaction. The letter broke the wall between us, then I used that opening to ask him. He admitted to it, said he was already going to end it, he was sorry, and didn’t want me know or be hurt. I am still in so much pain…but it was a beginning, and hopefully we will see this through, and I will find peace in my heart one day.

2. Jot down a turning point between you and your partner that helped the two of you move in a positive direction. Tell the story, if you would.

self improvement has been the best..losing weight, more care about my appearance. But I still suffer….it has been 7 months since I confronted him. But exercise and self improvement, and asking him to aknowledge how badly I hurt has helped.