Nathalie Atkins

Infidelity Investigators Nathalie Atkins

We expect our partners not to cheat. Sometimes lovers release each other from that expectation, as in the 1960s and '70s when ''open'' relationships and ''free love'' were part of a sexual revolution that valued experimentation. The vogue continues to a much lesser degree in the twenty--first century. For the most part, when two people are in a committed relationship, monogamy is not only implied, it's assumed. One mate at a time is the expectation when you've given your heart and soul to another. Fidelity, unless mutually exempted, rules adult sexual relationships and helps bind two persons together. Infidelity, or cheating, is a serious threat to that bond and when suspected needs to be addressed seriously. Cheating rarely can be ignored. The injured party might try to ignore their suspicion, shove it to the back of their mind through some complicated form of self--preservation coupled with denial. But such a defense mechanism rarely works either short or long--term. The gnawing reality lurks in the background, only to resurface. Cheating when faithfulness is expected by the partner signals something beyond sexual indiscretion is wrong in the relationship. There's a break in the emotional fabric of the relationship, too. Whatever is wrong will not heal itself.