Emotional Cheating Can Be Fixed

Is the trust in your relationship damaged after emotional cheating?

Are you wondering ‘How to rebuild trust after emotional cheating?’

It might be a tricky affair, but there is still a way out.

Emotional cheating means getting emotionally attached to someone other than your partner. 

It may lead you to share your feelings or personal struggles with that person rather than with your partner. You may feel close to this person and occasionally hold hands or hug them. You may also care about them more than you should. 

Mostly, emotional cheating is unintentional, as it can happen before you even know it. Reasons behind emotional cheating can be increasing emotional distance with your partner, growing closeness at work, or being in the same life situation or phase. 

Realising that you have grown closer to someone other than your partner may trigger guilt. You may feel like you have let your partner down and be scared of sabotaging your relationship. You might not have any clue how it happened and may also feel confused about how to end it or whether you should tell your partner about it.

It’s a difficult situation to be in as the road ahead can be tricky. But the good part is that you have acknowledged the issue, are committed to making things right again, and have started looking for a solution. It takes strength to accept your mistake, and that strength will help you rebuild trust in your relationship.

Emotional cheating, of course, isn’t right, but it’s still not physical cheating. And this is why not all is lost. You can relax and focus on putting your relationship back in order.

This blog will give you a few simple steps to rebuild trust in your relationship after emotional cheating. We will discuss each point in detail so you know exactly what to do and how to do it.

By the end of this blog, you will not only overcome the guilt of emotional cheating but will also learn to win your partner’s trust back.

Let’s begin!

How To Rebuild Trust After Emotional Cheating

Confess Your Mistake Honestly

The first step in rebuilding trust after emotional cheating is to confess to your partner.

Confessing means revealing to your partner that you cheated them emotionally. 

Confessing will rid you of the psychological burden of emotional cheating and make you feel relieved instantly. While it might make your partner mad initially, your honesty will also soothe them. Your confession itself will act as a significant sign of your guilt and commitment never to cheat them again emotionally. 

Your honest confession is what saves your relationship! 

Confessing to emotional cheating will require inner strength. You might feel tempted to keep it hidden forever, but you must choose to do the tricky but right thing. 

Remember: Hiding it will keep you trapped in guilt and regret, while revealing it will give your relationship another lease of life. 

While confessing, maintain an empathetic tone and be prepared for potential backlash. Do not try to get defensive; be emotionally available to your partner. Own your mistake by taking full responsibility for the emotional cheating.

Your friends or your own raw wisdom might tell you that it’s “No big deal” or  “it’s not physical cheating,” but you must stay true to yourself. 

Emotional cheating may be as crucial as physical cheating to your partner. And they deserve to know the truth. It’s essential to confess if you value them or your relationship.

If you find it really hard to confess verbally, you may do so via email or a written note. 

The medium isn’t important, but the truth is!

Confessing about emotional cheating may give you sleepless nights, but it will also relieve you of the burden and guilt. 

Emotional cheating might mean that you faltered, but confessing it also shows your honesty and commitment. It will tell your partner that you are genuinely sorry before you apologize.

Give A Heartfelt Apology

The next step in rebuilding trust after emotional cheating is to apologize to your partner.

Apologizing to your partner means asking them for forgiveness for betraying their trust and hurting them emotionally.

You may say simple things like – “I am sorry,” “Please forgive me,” or “Can you forgive me?” 

An apology after emotional cheating shows that you realise your mistake, own it completely, and are committed not to repeat it. 

A heartfelt apology can melt your partner’s heart and make them truly forgive you. 

Apologizing to your partner shows that you value your relationship. If you are scared of losing your partner, the apology will come naturally. No ego, fear, or dishonesty will stop you from asking for forgiveness.

You must remember a few things while asking for forgiveness for emotional cheating. 

First, be empathetic—Feel your partner’s pain, it will help you connect emotionally with them and say what they really need to hear.

Second, own your mistake completely—do not make excuses or sound like you are complaining or blaming your partner for the incident. This will make the apology more authentic and worth forgiving.

Third, be honest if they ask you about emotional cheating. They might want to know the seriousness of the emotional affair and its extent. Do not hide anything, though you may want to emphasise that it was strictly emotional. Remember: Honesty is the soul of an apology and has the power to repair any relationship.

Finally, do not push for forgiveness too hard, as it can backfire. Just assure them of change. Give your partner the time and choice to forgive, even if you feel desperate for their forgiveness.

It’s possible the apology doesn’t come or comes later. 

Be prepared for it mentally. If it happens, use the time to reflect on your mistake and appear truly sorry. Maybe your partner needs to see it.

It would help if you rehearsed apologizing to your partner beforehand. 

Remember: You have only one chance to do it, which means you must know precisely what to say to them. But focus more on connecting emotionally and being spontaneous. It will make the apology more impactful.

Your willingness to apologize will give you hope of saving the relationship. Your heart is in the right place, which is probably the most crucial thing after emotional cheating. 

Remember: Your apology should be more about soothing your partner than receiving forgiveness from them. If it’s soothing, forgiveness will come.

Show Visible Change In Behaviour

The next step in rebuilding trust after emotional cheating is to show a visible change in yourself.

Showing change means rebuilding your character by consciously avoiding emotional closeness with the opposite sex.

You may not talk with them for too long or empathize beyond a specific limit. You may want to keep it strictly human or professional and not let it slide into the ‘personal zone.’ 

Since you know exactly what went wrong last time, it might serve as the line you do not want to cross again.

This change in behaviour and your cautious conduct will be visible to your partner, too. When they notice positive changes in you, it will help restore a lot of trust in the relationship. It will assure them that you will stay loyal to them in the future and that they can trust you again.

To show a visible behaviour change, you will have to bring about attitudinal change in yourself. You will have to tell yourself that it’s not okay to get emotionally involved with the opposite sex beyond a certain threshold. You will have to set clear boundaries and consistently keep yourself within them. 

The behavioural change and drawing of positive boundaries will help you regain your own trust. It will show how much you want your relationship back to normal. Your self-trust and commitment to change will help rebuild trust in your relationship to a great extent.

Rebuilding Trust In A Relationship Is Possible

Emotional cheating may not be as grave as physical cheating, but it is still cheating. It shocks you, hurts your partner, and destabilises the relationship.

But your wisdom in withdrawing, courage in accepting your mistake, and determination to rebuild trust are laudable. It’s the first important step in resurrecting your relationship.

What you need to do next is to stop fearing the consequences and confess honestly to your partner about the emotional cheating. Give them a heartfelt apology and show change that convinces them of your future loyalty. True love always gets a second chance!

The biggest challenge for you will be to regain self-trust first. When you cheat emotionally, you cannot believe it was you who did it. Thus, you need to forgive yourself first, which will open the doors for your partner’s forgiveness.

But you also need to be patient with your partner: cheating, emotional or physical, pains and breaks trust, which isn’t easy to rebuild. Thus, once you have apologized, give your partner the time they need to process the pain. The forgiveness will come at the right time.

When they have forgiven you, you must discuss why the emotional cheating happened. If it was due to growing emotional distance, why did it happen, and how can it be removed? Finding these complex answers will bring you closer emotionally as a couple again and restore normalcy in the relationship.

Remember: When trust breaks, it feels like it will never come back, but putting in some honest effort and giving it sufficient time is what it needs to be rebuilt!