Can ART Help with Trust After Infidelity?

The Emotional Impact of Infidelity

Infidelity often triggers a cascade of intense emotions, including betrayal, anger, sadness, shame, and anxiety. These reactions can destabilize self-esteem, create hypervigilance, and lead to difficulties trusting others, not only in the current relationship but also in future relationships.

Individuals may experience recurring intrusive thoughts, heightened emotional reactivity, or an inability to feel safe with their partner. These emotional patterns can persist long after the infidelity itself, making recovery challenging without targeted intervention.

ART offers a structured approach to process these experiences, reduce emotional intensity, and promote adaptive coping strategies.

Understanding Trust and Attachment

Trust is a cornerstone of healthy relationships. Early attachment experiences influence how individuals form trust and navigate relational challenges. Infidelity can intensify existing attachment insecurities, particularly for those with anxious or avoidant attachment styles.

Attachment-related responses to betrayal may include:

• Fear of abandonment or rejection

• Difficulty communicating needs and boundaries

• Heightened suspicion or hypervigilance

• Emotional withdrawal or avoidance

ART targets both past and present attachment-related patterns, helping individuals rebuild trust in themselves and in their relational connections.

What is Accelerated Resolution Therapy?

Accelerated Resolution Therapy is a brief, evidence-based psychotherapy designed to help individuals process emotionally charged memories efficiently. ART combines guided eye movements with imagery rescripting, allowing clients to revisit distressing experiences safely while transforming emotional responses and reframing cognitive interpretations.

For individuals recovering from infidelity, ART can:

• Reduce emotional intensity associated with betrayal

• Reframe self-critical or mistrustful thoughts

• Restore emotional regulation and resilience

• Support the rebuilding of trust and relational security

How ART Supports Healing After Infidelity

ART works on multiple dimensions to address the complex effects of betrayal:

• Processing unresolved emotions: ART helps release anger, sadness, shame, and anxiety tied to infidelity.

• Reframing negative beliefs: Self-blame, guilt, or assumptions about relational failure are replaced with adaptive perspectives.

• Regulating the nervous system: ART reduces hyperarousal and stress-related physiological responses, allowing calmer relational interactions.

• Promoting relational resilience: ART fosters self-compassion, assertiveness, and confidence in setting boundaries, which are critical for restoring trust.

By addressing both emotional and physiological components, ART allows clients to heal more fully and engage in healthier relational patterns.

Imagery Rescripting for Betrayal Trauma

A central component of ART is imagery rescripting, which allows clients to revisit emotionally charged memories safely and transform their emotional response.

For infidelity-related trauma, imagery rescripting can:

• Reduce the intensity of painful memories

• Promote self-compassion and understanding of relational dynamics

• Reframe negative beliefs and assumptions about oneself or the partner

• Support confidence and security in the current or future relationship

This process helps clients release lingering trauma and regain emotional control, paving the way for trust and relational healing.

Addressing Attachment Patterns and Emotional Reactivity

Infidelity can trigger attachment-related fears and increase emotional reactivity. ART helps clients reprocess these responses, reducing patterns of hypervigilance, withdrawal, or clinginess.

Clients often experience:

• Greater emotional stability and calm in relational interactions

• Enhanced trust in their own judgment and relational boundaries

• Reduced anxiety and fear surrounding future relational risks

• Improved ability to engage openly and safely in relationships

Rebuilding Self-Esteem and Relational Confidence

Infidelity often damages self-esteem, leading individuals to question their worth or relational value. ART supports recovery by:

• Releasing self-critical thoughts and internalized blame

• Cultivating self-compassion and self-acceptance

• Strengthening assertiveness and boundary-setting skills

• Promoting relational confidence and readiness for secure connections

These outcomes allow individuals to approach relationships with renewed trust, clarity, and emotional balance.

ART Compared to Traditional Therapy

While talk therapy provides valuable support for individuals affected by infidelity, ART offers unique advantages:

• Rapid reduction of emotional intensity, often within a few sessions

• Direct focus on trauma and maladaptive relational patterns

• Integration of cognitive, emotional, and physiological processing

• Evidence-based, non-pharmacological, trauma-informed approach

ART is particularly effective for those struggling with persistent emotional pain, mistrust, or relational insecurity after betrayal.

Who Can Benefit from ART

ART is suitable for anyone coping with the aftermath of infidelity, especially those who:

• Experience ongoing anxiety, depression, or relational distrust

• Feel stuck in cycles of fear, suspicion, or anger

• Struggle to engage in healthy communication and intimacy

• Seek rapid, evidence-based relief without medication

By targeting core emotional and physiological patterns, ART promotes healing, trust rebuilding, and healthier relational engagement.

What to Expect in an ART Session

In an ART session, a therapist guides clients through eye movement sets while focusing on emotionally charged memories related to betrayal or attachment trauma.

Clients remain fully aware but experience a reduction in emotional intensity, allowing safe processing and reframing. Sessions typically last one to two hours, and many clients notice improvement after only a few sessions.

Long-Term Benefits

ART offers lasting benefits for individuals recovering from infidelity:

• Reduced emotional reactivity and intrusive thoughts

• Enhanced self-esteem and confidence in relationships

• Improved trust and intimacy

• Strengthened emotional regulation and coping skills

• Greater satisfaction and resilience in current and future relationships

By addressing both emotional and physiological dimensions, ART promotes sustainable relational healing and personal growth.

Taking the First Step

Infidelity can profoundly shake trust and emotional stability, but recovery is possible. Accelerated Resolution Therapy provides a rapid, evidence-based, and compassionate approach to process betrayal trauma, release negative patterns, and restore relational confidence.

If you are struggling to rebuild trust after infidelity, ART can guide you toward emotional balance, self-compassion, and healthier relational connections.

Start your ART journey today by completing my intake form.

Peer-Reviewed Sources

• Kip, K. E., et al. (2012). Randomized controlled trial of accelerated resolution therapy for treatment of symptoms of PTSD. Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 183–195.

• Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2007). Attachment in Adulthood: Structure, Dynamics, and Change. Guilford Press.

• Bowlby, J. (1988). A Secure Base: Parent-Child Attachment and Healthy Human Development. Basic Books.

• Glass, S. P., & Wright, T. L. (1985). Patterns of extramarital involvement in a national survey of American men and women. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47(3), 637–647.

• Shapiro, F. (2017). Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. Guilford Press.