Mary Ellen Goggin
People stay in unhappy marriages for a lot of reasons. You may be in one yourself. But when an unhappy marriage leads to infidelity, it’s time to lift the veil of denial and take a good hard look at what’s going on. And what you’ll probably see first is fear. Fear can cause people to…
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One of you has cheated. Both of you are suffering. Nothing will ever be the same. Is surviving infidelity without counseling possible? Despite the seemingly common occurrence of affairs and the high rate of divorce in the US, couples do survive infidelity. Some even manage to forge a stronger marriage after the fallout. But where and…
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The shock of discovering an affair is a big deal. Your world turns upside down; you feel shaken to the core. Strong emotions flood you and you might feel overwhelmed and afraid you’ll never feel like yourself again. Be assured that you will get through it, but it’ll take time, a support network, and large doses of self-care to get you through.
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Surviving infidelity can feel impossible, infuriating, exhausting, not-worth-the-effort. And that’s the moment you wake up and remember what’s going on. Surviving infidelity triggers can feel like having coarse salt rubbed into a wound that never gets to heal. For the betrayed spouse, such a Promethean punishment can make the idea of love, trust and happiness…
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A powerful alternative to traditional weekly marriage therapy is a marriage retreat. For couples in crisis, this format can offer an intensive, highly effective start to a sustainable healing journey. Selecting a Therapist Selecting a therapist is an important process for anyone considering psychotherapy. Sometimes the “first impression” of the process can leave a lasting…
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Infidelity changes you. It just does. The betrayed, the betrayer, the marriage — everything morphs. Surviving long-term infidelity, however, is particularly exacting. From admission or discovery to atonement to acceptance, the long-term affair is an inevitable call to action. As if a “moment of indiscretion” or “lapse in judgment” isn’t bad enough, long-term infidelity is…
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Depression affects 1 in 6 people at some point in their lives. And it affects every aspect of their lives. If an unhappy marriage leads to depression in one spouse, the marriage itself is considered depressed. In an indirect way, depression is actually contagious. Because depression in marriage can be caused by emotional distancing, avoidance,…
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Marriage is supposed to be that one sacred place where you can be yourself and speak freely. But when you’re afraid to communicate with your spouse, your relationship and home life can feel more like a prison. It’s not uncommon for one or both spouses in a marriage to have difficulty being assertive in their…
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