Main description:

A psychologist specializing in couples therapy provides an honest and compassionate guide to dealing with a spouse's or partner's love affair, from the one-night stand to the grand amour.

As a result of innovative technologies and a globalized world, temptation and opportunity often intersect, allowing infidelity to increasingly create problems between spouses, partners, and other couplings in which at least one person expects exclusive intimacy. In this timely work, noted couples therapist Joel Block examines the challenges of affairs, including types of affairs; their motivations and effects; and how to repair and improve a relationship, or part ways, after an affair. Questions addressed include: "What is the motivation?", "Is it a result of deep dissatisfaction? Or not a reflection of the relationship at all?", and "Can relationships be affair-proofed?"

Providing vignettes from the author's therapy sessions to illustrate points, the book also explains how to respond to discovery; minimize disruption in the lives of children; and when separation or divorce is the chosen solution, understand new modes of "conscious de-coupling" that keep post-breakup life stable as well as satisfying. A lifeline for recovering from crisis, this text will interest general readers looking for advice to react to, cope with, or avoid infidelity, as well as students and professionals in the fields of psychology, counseling, and social work.

Illustrate and brings to life issues addressed across chapters through vignettes from the author's therapy sessions

Describes types of and motivations for affairs

Details the healing process and steps to either recover the relationship or "de-couple"

Explains special considerations and actions for stability in cases in which the couple has children

Clearly describes the psychological damage an affair may inflict and dares to explain the controversial possibility that some affairs may have positive effects