Supporting Your Partner Through Their Recovery Is Not Your Job
Overcoming Betrayal & Addiction
Release Date: 04/10/2025
Overcoming Betrayal & Addiction
Dr. Skip Speer and Tami answer participant questions about missing a partner who has betrayed you, strategies for opening up in honest and helpful ways, timelines for dedicating time to recovery resources, and appropriate dialogue to have with family and friends during recovery. TAKEAWAYS: [1:04] What is my role in holding the pain of my betraying partner? [6:50] Seeking Integrity resources that are available to navigate unhealthy relationships. [7:58] What treatment options are available to a narcissistic sex addict betrayer? [13:24] How and when should we...
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Dr. Skip Speer and Tami talk about doomscrolling and hopescrolling, the features of each, and how to tailor your algorithm to lift you up at every stage of recovery. They then answer participant questions about sex addiction, including narcissism, gaslighting, and therapist obligations as mandatory reporters. TAKEAWAYS: [1:49] Doomscrolling versus hopescrolling – how to engage in what serves you. [7:01] Using your phone to numb out? Try this instead. [8:50] What is the difference between a CSAT and a regular therapist? [13:25] Do we really need a couples...
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On this Seeking Integrity webinar, therapist Debbie McRae discusses therapeutic separation as an effective intervention for couples struggling with the impact of betrayal and addiction. She highlights the structure of therapeutic separation as a compassionate approach to help both individuals regain safety, clarity and hope in the relationship. She and Tami then answer participant questions about therapeutic separation, when it’s the right next move, and what to do when it didn’t resolve your relationship issues. TAKEAWAYS: [:55] The possibilities with therapeutic or healing...
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Dr. Jessica Lamar, Licensed Mental Health Therapist, explores unseen wounds and understanding disenfranchised grief and betrayal trauma. What is disenfranchised grief, and why does it matter? Dr. Lamar overs betrayal trauma, emotional and psychological impact, healing, and support strategies. She and Tami then answer participant questions about grief and boundaries, conversations and resources that are available to help navigate grief. TAKEAWAYS: [:30] Intro. [2:58] Defining ambiguous loss – am I even in grief? [4:40] Disenfranchised grief is a loss that is not openly...
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On this Seeking Integrity webinar, Dr. Eddie Capparucci addresses the struggle of many men to show empathy, especially those who have dealt with childhood trauma and emotional neglect. He warns of the dangers of labels and offers insights into the biological and neurological factors that affect empathy. Then he and Tami answer participant questions about empathy in relationships, with strangers, and in and out of the home. TAKEAWAYS: [:30] The link between problematic sexual behaviors and a lack of empathy. [3:00] Empathy is learned in childhood. [7:18] When men don’t know how to deal...
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On this Seeking Integrity webinar, Scott Brassart discusses resilience and healthy coping mechanisms for both addicts and betrayed partners. He and Tami then answer participant questions about handling triggers, understanding big emotions, and addressing supercharged manifestations of shame. TAKEAWAYS: [1:10] Resilience and healthy coping mechanisms for everyone. [3:16] 5 practices to build resilience, from happiness to obstacle immunity and staying present. [11:20] Tools that can help with building resilience. [15:30] The 3-second rule for sex addicts. [19:30] The key difference...
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On this Seeking Integrity webinar, Dr. Rob and Tami answer listener questions about cheating, betrayal, sex and more. They address recovery, disclosure, and setting healthy boundaries throughout the recovery process, and offer a realistic timeline for partners to move from betrayal to intimacy and healing. TAKEAWAYS: [:30] My wife is using my body for sex. Is this just a libido mismatch? [9:30] Setting boundaries after hearing sex threats. [12:09] My partner and I are doing everything right. When will the next chapter start? [18:15] A little about Dr. Rob’s books and his editor Scott....
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On this Seeking Integrity webinar, Dan Drake, Matthew Raabsmith, and Joanna Raabsmith present "Building True Intimacy: A Roadmap to Relational Restoration After Sexual Betrayal." Together they consider how couples can effectively and efficiently move from betrayal and discovery to healing and connection, based on their book . They then answer participant questions about recovery, disclosure, and lasting healing. TAKEAWAYS: [:30] Introducing Dan Drake, Matthew Raabsmith and Joanna Raabsmith. [3:23] How do couples heal after betrayal and disclosure? [5:30] Five key components to...
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Licensed marriage and family therapist Kristin Snowden discusses carried shame and the danger of absorbing a betraying partner’s shame-filled life. She offers hope and tools for resiliency so that a betrayed partner can move through their own healing and get their lives and self-worth back again. She and Tami then answer participant questions about shame, addiction, and healing. TAKEAWAYS: [1:30] Understanding the terms associated with trauma healing, addiction recovery, and carried shame. [4:37] The importance of knowing your own shame stories. [5:20] Defining...
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Angela Spearman, CSAT describes “globalized mistrust” as the tsunami of impact on betrayed partners after discovery. But what are the core thoughts and fears underlying and maintaining that tsunami once it gets going? Together with Tami she addresses strategies for dealing with uncertainty, then answers participant questions about betrayal, boundaries, and triggers and more. TAKEAWAYS: [2:09] The catalyst for the existential experience and global mistrust. [5:20] Common questions from the betrayed partner (and what they really mean). [7:27] Reshaping...
info_outlineDr. Rob and Tami tackle hard questions about sex and intimacy in the wake of betrayal. They cover the role of a spouse in supporting their partner ‘for better and for worse”, how to set boundaries that take care of you first, and addressing the trauma and intrusive thoughts that often come after disclosure.
TAKEAWAYS:
[:20] Where do personal responsibility and societal norms come into play?
[7:27] A spouse’s job is to take care of themselves.
[12:30] How can I deal with my trauma and intrusive thoughts about my partner’s acting out?
[18:56] Acknowledging the level of troubled your partner really is.
[23:07] How can we connect through non-sexual intimacy?
[30:02] Is it common for people with addictions to seek out others with similar problems?
[38:42] Does our marriage counselor also need to be a CSAT?
[41:42] My spouse is refusing a polygraph test. How can I ever trust him?
[46:50] Should I address porn viewing or obsessive masturbation first?
[49:47] My partner has been with underage girls. How do I handle this?
RESOURCES:
Email Tami: Tami@Seekingintegrity.com
Prodependence: Moving Beyond Codependency, by Robert Weiss
Sex Addiction 101: A Basic Guide to Healing from Sex, Porn, and Love Addiction, by Robert Weiss
Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men, by Robert Weiss
Seeking Integrity Podcasts are produced in partnership with Podfly Productions.
QUOTES
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“As an addict, I need people to support me and relate to me, but as a spouse, that’s not your job.”
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“Addicts are not bad people. They’re broken people.”
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“If I fight my addict, I’m going to lose every time.”
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“The more questions you ask, the more questions it will bring up.”
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‘Express what you need but don’t blame if you’re not getting it.”