The Marital Affair: Narcissists, Lying and Confusion

Readers of my e-book “Break Free From the Affair” are asked if they have any questions after reading the e-book.

I respond briefly to some of their questions:

1. How about narcissists – in which kind of the affair would you put them?

The true narcissist often resides in affair #2: “I don’t want to say no.” There is a strong sense of entitlement, “I deserve this because I’m so special. Almost…s/he should want to adore me because of how wonderful I am.” Others exist to serve him/her.

Affair#3: “I can’t say no” may seem narcissistic because of the self-absorption, but the self orientation is around the object of addiction, not self.

2. Lying , is it part of No. 7 affair?

Lying is part of #7. It’s also part of Affairs #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. In other words, lying, deception, holding secrets, withholding information, half-truths are endemic to infidelity. Lying makes infidelity infidelity. The utter pain and confusion comes primarily from not knowing the truth (and out of that believing, somehow, that there is something defective about you – since you were not able to read the signals or were so out of touch.) Gets rather dicey.

3. Marriage is complex relationship between two adults. My husband fits in the characteristic of 2-3 pattern that you describe. What are the solutions?

There is often overlap. Actually that may be a good sign. The more the overlap, the more confusion exists. Confusion can be good. Confusion often means one is on the edge of discovery of something new… the next step in one’s growth and evolution. There is flexibility, there is possibility for change. One is not locked into the destructive behavior. Is this confusing??? :)

Some comments from readers about “Break Free From the Affair:”

the book is fantastic, straight forward, I wish I would have it 21 months ago when I discovered the affair. I think, I made many mistakes, some perhaps irreparable, but because of the book and because I am getting your E-mails (your interest) I decided to restart everything and even so that I don’t have much hope, I will persevere. With your help, I think I will break free from the affair – one way or other. The book gave me hope. Thank you Dr. Huizenga.

I’ve a better understanding the underlying problem of my marriage and the affair pattern. This helps me to make a critical decision…do I want to stay in marriage or move forward by myself…It helps me to think more clearly…The situation was not helped much, because I am reading it now, and have not apply the skills that the book taught to handle the problem.

I understand the type of affair that my wife is having (I Fell Out of Love and Love Being In-Love)and I am currently applying the skills l learned in the book that WILL help me to Break Free! One of the most important is: “Back-Off.” Most of the questions I had on “What can I do?” or “What did I do?” were answered!Thank you! This should be on hard cover in every book store in the US. I spent the first 2 months looking for resources and asking friends for advise then, typed “I don’t Love You Any More” into Google and discovered: “How to Save Your Marriage” which led me to “Break Free”!

Does how you learn about your partner’s infidelity really matter?

Researchers Afifi, Falato, and Weiner (2001) argue that the degree to which the knowledge about your partner’s infidelity is public and the degree to which your partner is able to make an immediate response are influential in shaping relationship outcomes. As such, listed from most threatening to least threatening, the following discovery methods are been identified:

• solicited third party discovery (i.e., you ask a neighbor and they confirm your suspicions),
• catching your partner ‘red handed’ (i.e., you walk in on your partner in the act),
• solicited discovery from your partner (i.e., you ask your partner and they confirm “yes, I have been with someone else”), and
• unsolicited discovery from a partner (i.e., without asking, your partner comes to you and says “I have to tell you something”)

What was found was that there are important links between the way you discover the information of your partner’s infidelity and relational outcomes. Specifically, the more threatening your discovery, the more negative your change in relationship quality, the more likely the relationship will deteriorate, and the harder it will be for you to forgive your partner.

So, how can you use this information?

1) When talking to your partner about your feelings concerning his or her affair, talk about your need to keep this a private matter in order to protect your public identity.
2) If you are the individual who engaged in the affair, keep in mind the “face saving” needs your partner may have and acknowledge that the way they discovered this information may have caused them both personal distress as well as public embarrassment.

Although these findings are broad, they stress the importance of the communication both prior to and after the discovery of these events.

Afifi, W. A., Falato, W. L., & Weiner, J. L. (2001). Identity concerns following a severe relational transgression: The role of discovery method for the relational outcomes of infidelity. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 18, 291-308.

This information was contributed by Allison R. Thorson ([email protected])

Surviving Infidelity: 8 paths to cope and survive

So, you’ve discovered your partner or spouse is having an affair?

And, if you are like most, you are in pain and find it difficult to function from day to day, hour to hour.

You wonder how you will survive and cope.

You wonder IF you will survive.

Over the years working with many many couples and individuals, I’ve seen patterns and themes. There is a predictable sequence of steps that most go through as they recover from infidelity.

This video outlines those steps and also gives research on the stage or step where most enter the recovery process.