After an affair, it’s possible to heal — together or apart, honestly.
The discovery of an affair can feel like the ground giving way. If you’re both still here — hurting, uncertain, but willing — that willingness matters. The Rebuilding Trust Intensive is a private, structured weekend for couples recovering from a specific affair. With a trauma-informed clinician holding the space, you’ll process what happened, rebuild honesty and transparency, grieve what was lost, and reach real clarity about your future.
“Willingness is the beginning. From a steadier place, you can make honest decisions — and, if you choose it, rebuild a marriage you can both trust again.”
— The affair-recovery approach at LifeWorks Recovery
Who the Rebuilding Trust Intensive Is For
This intensive is for couples recovering from a specific affair — emotional or physical — who want to heal honestly, whatever they ultimately decide.
After an Affair
For couples recovering from a specific affair, emotional or physical, who are ready to face it together.
Rebuilding Trust
For partners who want to rebuild trust and transparency but don’t know where to begin.
To Be Heard
For the betrayed partner who needs to feel truly heard, understood, and no longer alone in the pain.
To Make It Right
For the partner who caused the hurt and genuinely wants to take responsibility and change.
Clarity, Not Crisis
For couples who want to make their decision from a healed-enough place — not from the middle of a crisis.
Honest Either Way
For partners committed to honesty, whether the path forward is together or apart.
A Compassionate Three-Part Arc
We move through a proven sequence that honors both partners’ experience — drawing on the Gottman Method’s Atone–Attune–Attach approach and the Courageous Love model.
Atone
Honesty and accountability. We create safety first. The partner who caused the hurt listens without defensiveness and offers full transparency; genuine remorse is given room to surface — without graphic detail.
Attune
Understanding and connection. We build the skills affairs often grow in the absence of: deep listening, turning toward each other, and naming the longing underneath the pain.
Attach
Intimacy and commitment. We rebuild closeness, shared meaning, and everyday rituals of a relationship you can both trust — and, if you stay together, set clear protections for the future.
Built on the ANCHOR Model™
Every LifeWorks intensive follows the ANCHOR Model™ — our original, attachment-based, trauma-informed path to healing after betrayal. Because a threatened nervous system can’t be honest, empathic, or close until it first feels safe, we steady you, tell the truth carefully, let the impact be heard, make things right, rebuild connection, and protect what you’ve regained.
What the Weekend Looks Like
The Rebuilding Trust Intensive is usually scheduled across Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday for a total of 16 or 20 hours, customized to your relationship and pace.
Safety & Honesty
We establish safety and ground rules, and begin the honest conversation — remorse, transparency, and being truly heard.
Impact & Understanding
The core of the work: processing the impact, building understanding and connection, and moving through grief toward what’s next.
Rebuild & Protect
We turn toward rebuilding — intimacy, commitment, protections for the future — and create your aftercare plan.
16-Hour or 20-Hour
We decide the right length together at your brief, free upfront consultation.
Investment
Every intensive begins with a brief, free consultation that sets your exact scope, so pricing is shown as a starting estimate.
16-Hour Intensive
Fri evening + full Saturday + half Sunday, per couple.
20-Hour Intensive
Fri evening + full Saturday + full Sunday, per couple.
Includes your private space in Addison, materials, refreshments throughout, and your copy of The ANCHOR Workbook. Lodging and dining are nearby (not included); we’re happy to share recommendations. Final scope is set at your brief upfront consultation.
Common Questions
Will I have to hear graphic details?
No. Our process is intentionally non-graphic. Transparency and honesty are essential; explicit detail is not, and can cause more harm than healing.
What if we’re not sure we’ll stay together?
That’s okay. Part of this work is reaching clarity from a steadier place. Whatever you decide, you’ll decide it more honestly and with less pain running the show.
Is this only for the person who was hurt?
No — it’s for both of you. The betrayed partner needs to be heard; the other partner needs a real path to make it right. Both are held with care.
How soon after discovery should we come?
There’s no single right timeline. If you’re both willing to engage honestly, a consultation is the best way to know if now is the time.
Is everything confidential?
Completely. Your weekend is private, one-on-one with your clinician, in a discreet space in Addison.
Dallas Counseling Office
LifeWorks Recovery Counseling Center
4201 Spring Valley Road, Suite 1430
Dallas, TX 75244
Explore Related Programs
Not every breach of trust is the same. If an affair isn’t quite your story, one of these may be the better fit.
Safe Harbor Intensive
For betrayal tied to compulsive sexual behavior or problematic pornography — trauma-informed disclosure and safety, not just affair recovery.
Restore Intensive
For couples who simply keep missing each other — reconnect and break painful cycles, no betrayal required.
All Couples Intensives
See all three couples intensives side by side and find the right fit in a free, no-pressure consultation.
Take the First Step, Privately
A confidential consultation is the simplest way to find out if the Rebuilding Trust Intensive is right for you. There’s no pressure — just a warm, honest conversation about where you are and what could help.