A guide to recognizing and recovering from infidelity-even if your marriage doesn't-from the popular online therapist known as the "Affair Consultant."
Cheating is a topic therapist Lauren LaRusso knows all too well, as both a professional who helps women grappling with the realization of a husband's affair AND as a wife whose own marriage ended due to her husband's infidelity. Desperate for answers, LaRusso set to work learning every last thing she could about rebuilding her life and helping others do the same. Shocked by cheating's prevalence, she wondered: if millions of people are having affairs, why aren't we openly speaking about it? Why is infidelity still taboo? And most importantly: why isn't anyone talking honestly about how the partners left behind can rebuild their lives, especially if the relationship can't be salvaged?
Most books on infidelity either focus on reconciliation (like After the Affair by Janis Spring) OR they normalize cheating as a mere "warning sign" in a relationship (see: Esther Perel). But the truth is, infidelity is cited as a reason for 60 percent of all divorces. And while that is a scary statistic, psychotherapist and affair-expert Lauren LaRusso is here to assure you that even if your relationship ends after your partner cheats, you can still find hope and even happiness on the other side.
In Beyond Infidelity, LaRusso writes the book she wishes had existed when she was suffering in silence. With an interactive seven-step guide-taking readers from understanding what you're going through, to stabilizing yourself and curating your world, to breaking free and becoming whole-Beyond Infidelity meets readers where they are in their moment of crisis. With writing that is strikingly intimate, compassionate, and free of judgment, LaRusso's work flips the script on infidelity. Being cheated on, she explains, is not your fault. Even if your marriage ends, this moment can actually be an opportunity for lasting self-growth and healing. (Really!) This, LaRusso argues, is the true gift of infidelity-moving beyond betrayal and rising from the ashes of your relationship stronger than ever. Lauren LaRusso, "The Affair Consultant", is a psychotherapist in private practice specializing in extramarital affairs. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and creative writing, and she received her master's degree in professional counseling from The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. Lauren is licensed in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York, and she also works with clients on a consulting basis around the world.
