DHH-you really seem like a nice, kind man. This time, I did not see any anger and resentment in your responses to me. My thoughts are that you are seriously trying to make this relationship right and so is your WW but you are having a hard time dealing with the pain that your WW caused to your soul and mind. I totally get it. It sounds like you are going through torture. I also felt how you currently feel but things are so much better for my WH and I now. More on that later.
My WH and I have been married 30 years and our issues spiraled out of control around seven years ago. They were ongoing and we never dealt with them properly until everything got out of hand. Our relationship hit rock bottom around four years ago when I had had enough of the crap. But my WH was at his worse three years ago. So, as I look back, I would say that we've been in true R for the past year and a half.
It sounds like you are at a very difficult time in your life because you still have three young children to raise and I do believe that you love your WW and want things to be right again. I will tell you (and I hate to admit to it) that mine and my WH marriage is better than ever because we both have been working hard on ourselves and we both see how we contributed to the poor choices in our marriage. I am sorry if my wording at times confuses you. Lol I just wish that my WH and I didn't have to go to these levels to make our marriage right again.
I will be honest with my part of the downfall of my marriage. There were many times when men would try to cross my boundries and try to get to me. By this I mean for example, that one of these men when he was on duty would stop by the house if I was outside with my kids when my husband wasn't home. There was a fence around the yard but he still didn't need to come by and show his interest in me. I was uncomfortable but felt I had to be nice. Today, I would politely excuse myself and go into the house until he was gone or turn my back to him.
I was a very faithful wife (and still am) but my WH didn't feel that I put up strong enough boundries with these men because truth be told, I enjoyed the attention and flattery.
Another instance of my poor behavior was when a grocery store manager would give me attention when I shopped. Believe me, he got right in my face. I'm not sure how I could have stopped that but should have just ignored him from day one.
There were other instances similar to these two and at times it was worse than this. Sometimes, things got really weird.
My point is that I didn't display safe behavior in my marriage by accepting compliments and flattery from other men which in return caused my WH to believe I wasn't a safe and faithful partner. Today, we both can look back at the situation and talk about how things could have been handled differently. I felt I had to be nice back then. Today, I have no problem ignoring other men because I love my husband and his love and his attention is good for me. I am fulfilled by what he has to offer me as a loving, faithful and honest husband. I also put up strong boundries with other men. I pretty much have no response to them at all anymore.
Today, I understand how deeply my behavior hurt my WH and now if a man wants to give me attention, I ignore them. I act "as if" they are not there. My WH loves how I handle myself today. It helps him to feel secure in our marriage. Besides, I accept my WH attention as enough. I don't need others to validate that I am attractive and good enough. I used to though and my "not doing anything about it" behavior towards these men hurt my WH so deeply that he thought I was going out on him. I will tell you though that I was not a flirt but was just too nice.
My point in telling you this is that I also had a part in the downfall of my marriage. I do not take any responsibility for my WH poor choices of getting back at me or by torturing me by flirting with other women. This is on him but at the same time, I also can see how my behavior led to the destruction of our marriage.
Maybe you might want to consider going back into joint counseling with your wife and you also might want to consider getting on an antidepressant for a year or so. I did but it took me some time to finally decide that it was time to go down this path. Our therapist told me that the danger in taking the antidepressant is not taking antidepressant itself but in stopping too soon because it has helped me to feel better and to be able to handle things in a better frame of mind.
I have been on it for around 5 months now and I am doing so much better. It doesn't take the feelings away, it just helps me to feel a little calmer. Up until the point of taking the meds, I would go into severe post trama and for lack of better words, freak out when I had a trigger. I had so many triggers. It was horrible.
The triggers are still there but they are so much more manageable and my WH can help me through things more easily. He too is becoming a safe partner for me again. We are learning to build trust again but in different ways now.
My husband is all in and takes responsibility for the trama he caused me by stepping outside the boundries of our marriage. I am sorry for my part also.
I developed severe PTSD because of my husband's poor choices but as I stated earlier in this post, I also needed to take responsibility for my actions or inactions in my case.
I have hope for you and your WW to resolve your issues, partly because you have stated that the two of you are working on solutions to better your marriage and to make it safer and happier place again. I truly believe that you are on a positive path to finding that happiness once again.
Hopefully, you will decide to go back to joint counseling with your WW and get on antidepressants. Don't worry if the counselor tells you that she has developed a relationship with your wife. If you like this counselor and you feel she is good then insist on going back to her as a couple and stay in the office as a couple, even if things do get heated. It's okay.
I do believe you and your WW are on a good path towards R. I just feel maybe it is time for you to allow yourself to take steps toward your healing.
You don't have to hang on so tight to the pain your WW caused you. I understand why you may feel the need to hang onto the pain but isn't it the ultimate goal to R with your WW so that the two of you can become the awesome partners and parents that you were meant to be?