Reconciliation is a really tough path, and IMHO a couple that reconciles successfully adapt a relationship pattern where the work in reconciliation is carried on for life. Things like verifiable trust, open finances, honesty… these are things reconciled couples adapt and keep way beyond the infidelity.
Just a note to say, yes and no, based on my experience.
Bigger describes important part of R accurately. We had to be and were completely honest with each other during R. I didn't monitor my W's spending, but she was completely open about it, and I'm open about mine. I don't monitor her email, but I have very easy access to it; she has easy access to mine, too, though not being a techie, she doesn't realize it, no matter how many times I show her
. I don't monitor her IC, but she signed a release that allows her IC to talk with me. If the IC says we need a joint session to answer a question, the release allows her to bring anything from an IC session into a joint session. (Come to think of it, I haven't signed such a release, but I would if asked).
IMO, when R succeeds, R morphs in M.
The 'no' part is that the hard part was facing, owning, and flushing away our own shit. My W had to face and defeat her demons in order to find the energy to maintain R; I had to do the same.
Healing our M, though, was relatively easy. In facing our own demons, it was usually easy to support each other. We got a lot of positive reinforcement from our proximity to and love for each other, and we both like activities associated with *TMI*, which reinforces healthy bonds between us.
The positive payoffs of facing demons made doing so almost attractive.
BUT - as Bigger and others note, we both were fully committed to staying together. We both wanted to grow old together. The big payoff of an M that was already good (before the A) and that would keep getting better was worth going through the crisis created by the A.
My W was committed to facing her demons from the start of our post-d-day life. She essentially came clean on d-day - I got more details as time went on, but nothing clashed with what she told me on d-day.
She was committed to changing from cheater to good partner no matter what I did. She knew the more demons she sent away, the better off she'd be whether I kicked her out or stayed.
I didn't commit to R until I was as sure as I could be that she was committed. I did not do a pick-me dance - I wanted her to freely choose between ow and me. I knew I'd feel even more awful if she chose ow, but I didn't want her to pine for someone else to stay with me.
YOUR W IS NOT BEHAVING LIKE MINE DID. Your W is simply not a good candidate for R at this point.
Like Bigger, I'm not suggesting you D or R. I am suggesting that you figure out what you want - don't simply take R as default. And if you do want R, look at your W's behavior. If she does what is necessary for R, maybe R is for you. If she has to be dragged into R, maybe it's best to D or to wait.
My reco is NOT to initiate D unless you really mean it. Dealing with your W's infidelity is hard enough. If you bring D into your lives, you will have to focus some on the D, and that takes energy away from dealing with the A.
D is not a good tactic for forcing your WS back into your M. If one of you feels forced into R, you both will have very hard rows to hoe. R works best is it is both partners' freely chosen path.
If you get to the end of your rope and choose D, your WS may wake up to your qualities and choose you. If that happens, you can stop the R. But I urge you not to use R as a tactic. Take a look at, say, The1stWife. D was not a tactic for her - she chose it, and her H won her back. If he hadn't done his work, though, I expect The1stWife would have become a happy divorcee. Probably remarried by now, but that, too, would have been her free choice.
R is not the objective after an A. D is not the objective. The best objective, IMO, is to choose the path that is best for you.
[This message edited by SI Staff at 4:29 PM, Thursday, August 4th]