Most people have perhaps come across this phrase: “Building trust takes years, breaking it takes seconds, and repairing it takes forever.” If you have cheated on your partner, or your partner has cheated on you, and you both want to rectify the problem, you might be looking for ways to rebuild and regain trust.
It is worth noting that trust is the foundation of all relationships. So, cheating on your better half makes them feel anguished, shattered, and betrayed. It is hard for your lover to stomach that you have cheated on them. However, it is usually not easy to break up following infidelity, especially if you and your partner have been together for years.
While it’s challenging to progress following episodes of unfaithfulness, it is worth noting that nothing is impossible. So, a sort of understanding and adjustment comes in handy in helping you rebuild the trust.
Here are the tips you can use to regain your partner’s trust after being unfaithful.
Apologize
The damage is already done and has affected your lives. The first healing step to undertake is to admit your mistakes. Your partner might be willing to forgive you and move forward if you give a genuine apology.
Have Clear and Open Communication
It is crucial to have clear conversations if the two of you have mutually decided that the past is water under the bridge. What made you cheat on your partner? Why do men cheat on good women? How can you evade the circumstances that caused you to cheat? Some of these questions need to be addressed before rekindling your love life. An honest talk will irrefutably instill trust. You can also talk about how you can create new boundaries in your relationship.
Give Yourself and Partner Time
After cheating, you need to give yourself some time to comprehend how huge your mistake was, strategize on what to do to regain trust, and become sufficiently strong to face the consequences.
On the other hand, your better half needs time to accept the occurrences, calm down, vent, and determine whether to end or continue with the relationship. Time is crucial as it can help the two of you bridge the gap.
Accept Your Shortcomings
It would help if you did not blame the third party or your partner for your cheating. Almost always, the cheater is in the wrong due to lack of communication, poor self-control, or the fact that they take their relationship for granted. While there are countless reasons why cheating happens, you should never use them to justify your unwarranted behavior.
Prioritize Transparency
In order to regain trust in the relationship, there needs to be transparency. This may mean that the person who cheated needs to relinquish their privacy and freedom for a little while. Healthy ways to be transparent include allowing your partner to track your location, sharing passwords, and deleting certain social media accounts.
Address Your Concerns Together
Breaking trust makes it hard for your partner to have confidence in you again. Doubts, fears, and insecurities will pop up repeatedly. Fortunately, you can address your issues together to rebuild the trust.
For instance, instead of assuming that your partner knows how you feel, talk to them. Share your goals and fears about your relationship with one another. Lean on each other. As stated earlier, it would be helpful to also set boundaries.
Limit Your Defensive Traits
The partner who cheated may get angry, become defensive, and argue after confronting infidelity realities. Although this is a natural reaction, it’s essential to control it, mainly when trying to salvage the relationship. The worst thing about arguing is that it damages the relationship further. Therefore, you should avoid being defensive when conversing with your partner.
The two of you need to share the burden for the relationship to get back on track. You can quickly get through the difficult patches when working as a team. Your relationship will not resume to what it was if the both of you are not willing to work together to fix it. It takes complete participation from both of you to restrengthen your relationship.
Get Therapy
You have perhaps invested a lot of time and effort into your relationship, but nothing seems to work. If that’s the case, you should look out for assistance elsewhere. Here is where counseling comes in handy. A professional therapist can be an unbiased third party who helps the two of you reach a consensus.
Can You Regain Trust After Cheating?
You can regain trust after cheating. It is possible to regain your partner’s trust after being dishonest. However, it demands utmost dedication and commitment from the two of you. The crucial thing is to be patient with one another, ensure you do everything possible to remain faithful moving forward, and offer a secure space to vent.
