Moving Beyond Betrayal

A go-to guide on how to confront, heal from, and ultimately thrive after the devastation of betrayal by a partner's compulsive sexual or other addictive behavior The first book specifically for partners affected by addictive behavior that addresses, in detail, how to identify, create, and maintain boundaries as a vital component of self-care and an indispensable tool for healing and growth. Through working the 5-Step Boundary Solution partners will gain clarity; reduce the chaos inherent in relationships impacted by sex addiction; feel more empowered and in control of their lives; discover whether or not their relationship with the addict is salvageable. Vicki Tidwell Palmer is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT), and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) in private practice in Houston, Texas. She is the author of the blog for partners Survival Strategies for Partners of Sex Addicts.

For anyone affected by a partner's sex addiction or other addictive behavior, who wants to heal and thrive after betrayal.

"Prodependence," a new psychological term created by Robert Weiss to describe healthy interdependence in the modern world, turns this around. Rather that preaching detachment and distance over continued bonding and assistance, as so many therapists, self-help books, and 12-step groups currently do, prodependence celebrates the human need for and pursuit of intimate connection, viewing this as a positive force for change. Simply stated, prodependence occurs when attachment relationships are mutually beneficial--with one person's strengths filling in the weak points of the other, and vice versa. And this can occur even when an addiction is present

When your partner betrays, what are the first steps to picking up the pieces of your shattered heart? Many unsuspecting people wake up every day to discover their loved one, the one person whom they are supposed to trust completely, has been living a life of lies and deceit because they suffer from a disease-sex addiction. This is a disease shrouded in secrecy and shame. This is your go-to-guide for what to do when you discover your partner is a sex addict. Each chapter is based on frequently asked questions by partners such as: Should I Stay or Should I Go? Is This Going to Get Better? How Do I Set Boundaries and Keep Myself Safe? and What Should I Tell the Kids?

The first workbook to help partners of sex addicts cope with discovering their loved one has compulsive sexual behaviors.

Partners affected by sex addiction learn to develop healthy boundaries and make positive changes for themselves and their partners.

Using a trauma-model approach, From Betrayal Trauma to Healing & Joy: A Workbook for Partners of Sex Addicts, provides a healing pathway women can follow, either individually or in a support group. Beginning with the raw pain betrayal trauma victims experience, this well-researched, soul-searching guide sensitively uses a forward-moving process, enabling women to come to understand their losses, grieve them, grow through them, and go on to heal. With a balance of educational content and penetrating, therapeutic questions, women review what has happened in their relationship and process it as they journal their answers to the workbook's self-reflective questions. As they do, they learn to use important new tools and skills and gain new strengths that equip them for the challenges they face, whether their relationship heals, or comes to an end. Chapter by chapter, women learn what it takes to share one's life with a man working to stay free from sex addiction. And as they grow and evaluate their options, they gain new insight and clarity, enabling them to choose the next best steps for their own lives. This workbook is compatible with Your Sexually Addicted Spouse: How Partners Can Cope and Heal, which the author wrote with Dr. Barb Steffens. And it is the 4th edition of the workbook formerly titled, Journey to Healing & Joy: A Workbook for Partners of Sex Addicts.

"This volume deals with the subject of betrayal, and is appropriate as a self-help aid for clients. It also contains useful suggestions for therapists dealing with those who have experienced betrayal of trust."--Lucy R. Ferguson, Ph.D., member, AFTNC Faculty Member and Dean Emerita, CSPP, Alliant University.