Make Some Noise Podcast: Betrayal in Romantic Relationships with Michelle Mays

This week’s episode is based on a listener’s request about how to recover from the betrayal of infidelity. Michelle Mays joins me to discuss cheating, the betrayal bind, and solutions for healing.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Cheating and what makes sexual betrayal so devastating and problematic? (3:37)
• The betrayal bind is what happens when we experience betrayal at the hands of our most significant other. (8:08)
• Every betrayed partner goes through three specific injuries. (16:08)
• The role of gaslighting when a partner is cheating (19:54)
• Michelle answers, “Can you actually heal from betrayal and cheating?” (28:08)
• “Your relationship may not be salvageable, but you can absolutely heal from betrayal and move into the rest of your life and thrive and flourish afterward.” AND “If you are trying to heal your relationship, that is possible. The deciding factor is whether you are both in it 100%.” (29:50)

Michelle Mays is a Licensed Professional Counselor and expert in treating sexual betrayal and trauma. She’s also the author of the new book The Betrayal Bind: How to Heal When the Person You Love the Most Has Hurt You the Worst. Michelle has created a new treatment model to address the devastating dilemma that betrayed partners face when their significant other is unsafe to connect to, yet connection is the key to healing.