Cheating is cheating. It’s exactly that. No matter if it is physical or emotional, cheating in any form can be a painful experience for your partner. While a physical affair is something that can cause a sudden impact on a relationship, emotional affairs can cause more damage to a relationship in the long run.
Cheating doesn’t just impact one partner in the relationship, either. No matter if you’re the person who was cheated on or the one who did the cheating, the relationship won’t be the same after the fact. You may have once had a strong, loving, committed bond that is now broken. Let’s explore the layers of betrayal that accompany emotional and physical affairs.
Physical Affairs
The most common type of affair associated with cheating is physical affairs. This type of affair involves being sexual or intimate with a person who is outside of the relationship. A physical affair involves committing a physical or sexual act. Examples of this include touching, kissing, or actually having sex with someone who is not your partner. This type of affair is a betrayal on its own and can overlap with other forms of betrayal.
Emotional Affairs
Emotional affairs aren’t as black and white as physical affairs can be. But they can be just as harmful to a relationship. This type of affair is still a form of cheating, but no physical act has taken place, at least not at first. An emotional affair can grow into a physical affair, but it starts when a partner emotionally connects with someone outside their relationship.
A partner may find more comfort and trust from another party outside of their relationship, such as a friend, coworker, or neighbor. This type of affair involves welcoming an outside person to a front-row seat in the intimate relationship you share with your partner.
Lying
Trust is one of the main foundations and pillars of any type of relationship. Without it, the relationship won’t be able to be healthy or grow into something stronger. A person cannot commit an emotional or physical affair without lying to their partner. The lies will pile on as the cheater continues creating more lies to cover up their infidelity.
Lying on its own can be detrimental to any type of relationship. Lying that is done to cover or hide an emotional or physical affair can be even more damaging to a relationship and the partner that is being cheated on.
Finances
You may not initially think of finances being involved in affairs. However, they can be an added layer that comes along with emotional and physical affairs. This form of betrayal occurs when a partner uses shared funds to engage in activities behind their partner’s back. This could involve paying for a dinner, hotel, or gifts for the person that they’re cheating with. It’s another form of betrayal that isn’t as widely talked about, but it still happens and is often linked with emotional and physical affairs.
Next Steps
Betrayal in a relationship can occur in many different forms. There are layers to being betrayed by a partner that extends beyond emotional and physical affairs. After an emotional or physical affair, it can be difficult to determine your next moves and steps. You have to determine if you want to try to stick it out and improve your trust and relationship or if the act is unforgivable and it’s time to call it quits.
No matter what you decide to do, individual or couples counselling can be a great step for you and your partner to make together. With the help of a licensed and trusted mental health professional, you can work through your relationship struggles.
Reach out to our office today to set up an initial consultation. We have a growing team of skilled therapists at Onyx who can support you as an individual or couple.
