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Emotional Infidelity and Online Relationships

Emotional infidelity can happen without warning. Two people from different worlds and different regions connect and find they have common interests online.

Sometimes it’s a professional association, a hobby or problems at home. Through online interactions they find easy acceptance and support. There’s no baggage or expectations.

Acceptance and support often leads to friendships. Friendships can create chemistry. Chemistry can create relationships. And this sets the stage for emotional infidelity.

In fact, it’s not unheard of for two people who have never met face to face to develop intimate feelings. Which is why online dating is such the rage these days.

It happened to a friend of mine some time ago. Elana took a job as a virtual assistant through an online employment agency. She would spend hours connecting with her “boss” who lived thousands of miles away. He was funny, sexy and kind and often asked for her input in business matters. Though she was married, she and her husband had grown distant and she looked forward to the nights he would retire early so she could go online and spend intimate time with the man who saw her for the woman she desired to be. A man who supported her dreams.

Then one day, her husband stumbled upon a steamy e-mail that she had written and angrily confronted her. He threatened to expose her boss and ruin his professional reputation. To protect him, she ended the affair.

But, Elana is not alone. Many people today find the Internet to be a tool for meeting people online and indulge their fantasies and inhibitions through bulletin boards and chat room conversations. Perhaps it’s even affected you. If so, counseling from a reputable marriage therapist can help to regain trust and put your marriage back on track. Seek help and start the healing process from the pain caused by your emotional infidelity.

This article was written by Staff Writer, and posted on Thursday, April 15th, 2010 at 5:34 am. It is filed under Marriage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.