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You're listening to lifekit
from NPR.
Hey, everybody, it's Marielle.
Today we're going to talk about cheating on a romantic partner,
not how to do it, how to come back from it, whether that means come back together or come back to yourself.
Talal Asaleem is a psychologist and a licensed marriage and family therapist, and his specialty is helping couples heal after affairs.
Which could mean healing by repairing the relationship and making it stronger and better than it was prior to the discovery, or healing individually.
Because at the end of the day, not everybody's going to be able and willing to do what it takes to rebuild trust.
It's hard work, you know, whether you were the unfaithful partner or the betrayed partner.
And while we all want neat answers on these things, should I stay or should I go?
That's not something anyone else can tell you, even your therapist.
I'm a firm believer that as a clinician, your job is not to tell people that they should stay or leave.
Your job is to help give them the information that they need to make that informed decision.
And if that decision is to repair the relationship, then your job is to actually help them understand the reason why it happened and give them a clear action plan to address those factors that led to infidelity.
Because it is a cause and effect, infidelity doesn't happen in a vacuum.
And I always tell folks that everything we do, good or bad, we do it for reason.
On this episode of Lifekit, how to recover from infidelity in romantic relationships, Lifekit reporter Andy Tagle is going to ask talal listeners questions about cheating,
including how to move forward if someone cheats on you