Dealing With Emotional Infidelity

Series Summary

In the contexts of sociology and popular culture, the concept of interpersonal relationships involves social associations, connections or affiliations between two or more people. Such persons may interact overtly, covertly, face-to-face or may remain effectively unknown to each other, as in a virtual community whose members maintain anonymity and do not socialize outside of a chat room. The discovery or establishment of common ground between people provides a fundamental component for enduring interpersonal relationships. In this free video series, a psychologist provides advice for dating and dealing with relationship problems. Find out how to deal with ex-boyfriends, infidelity and emotional affairs. Learn about building trust in people, recovering from a breakup and getting rid of feelings for another woman. Establish the foundation for long-lasting relationships with these tips.

Video Transcript

"Hello, my name is Reka Morvay, and I'm a psychologist. I'm going to talk to you today about how to deal with emotional infidelity. Emotional infidelity can be as difficult to deal with as actual physical infidelity, but it's much, much more difficult to define, and much more difficult to put your hands on. You just feel that your partner isn't quite there anymore; that you're not prioritized as high as you used to be. Maybe you suspect that there is an emotional interest toward someone else in the background because of this. I think the most important thing in this situation is to sit down with your partner and discuss what the roots might be, why you're not feeling that you're as high up on the list of your partner's priorities as you used to be or as you would like to be. Is it something that has changed; is it a changed situation? Has your partner found somebody that they are more interested in? Have they found a new hobby, a new interest in life that is taking their attention away from you? It is most beneficial to try to discover whether this feeling stems from actual intended infidelity on your partner's part, or whether it's thoughtlessness, or whether it's too much sensitivity sensitivity on your part. It is possible that your feelings that your partner is not as attentive and not as emotionally interested in you stem from your own issues and your own problems, so it is very important to first define where these issues come from. If you do discover that your partner has been emotionally unfaithful to you because they are more interested in somebody else it is time to sit down and define the parameters of the relationship and define what is acceptable behavior from your partner. Try to come up with what you need from your partner. What are those things that you absolutely require and cannot get let go of in the relationship. Communicate with these with your partner and discuss them to see if your partner is actually capable of meeting your emotional needs."