5 Tips to Help You Heal from a Breakup After You’ve Been Betrayed

Ann from Relationship Wellbeing Specialist

There is a big difference between divorcing or breaking up when the two of you have grown apart as opposed to when your partner betrayed you. Your emotional reactions will be vastly different in those two instances.

When you feel betrayed and hurt, the challenge is staying civil. It’s also very difficult to move on because betrayal can make you completely consumed and overwhelmed with negative feelings. You may be drawn to find the answers why this happened or what you have done wrong to deserve this kind of treatment.

If you remain focused on feeling betrayed, you will stay stuck in bitterness and frustration. How can you handle betrayal so you can continue with your life?

1. Acknowledge your feelings to honor yourself

First, know it’s completely understandable how you feel. Betrayal from a romantic partner hit you the hardest. We are mammals and we are simply designed to attach to other beings. When a betrayal such as your partner having an affair or wanting to leave you disrupts this bond, this hurts you hard.

You may have a desire to lash out and make your partner’s life miserable. This is normal. You’ve been hurt and these are natural emotional reactions in response to deep pain. It’s important to acknowledge your feelings and work through them.

2. Seek help to process difficult feelings

Working with a good therapist who specializes in relationships can help you work through your feelings and heal much faster.

Acknowledging your emotions allows you to recognize you’ve been hurt, and it’s not how you like to be treated. By acknowledging your emotions, you are honoring yourself, learning to build better boundaries, and recognizing what works and doesn’t work for you. Betrayal hurts, and you were not responsible for it. This leads us to the next tip which can change a lot for you.

3. Determine the focus of your emotions when you’re feeling betrayed

When feeling betrayed, it’s quite natural to focus on questions such as,” Why did he do this to me?” and, “What did I do wrong”? You are basically trying to empathize with him and his reasoning, while opening yourself up to potentially more hurt and feelings of inadequacy.

Empathizing with your partner is not necessarily wrong, but when you are trying to move on, it can be a trap that keeps you emotionally entangled and stuck on him.

In addition, this kind of mindset can lead to further scrutiny and judgment of yourself. This can drastically diminish your self-esteem. If you are like many women, you already do enough self-criticism.

Similarly, if you stay emotionally focused on his negative qualities, you will stay stuck. Even if you feel like you hate him now, this only means that you are emotionally preoccupied with him.
How to focus on yourself to effectively heal after a breakup

Instead of wondering about him and figuring out his mindset, it would be more helpful to focus on yourself. I don’t mean analyse what went wrong that made him betray you, but figure out what it is you need in life. What brings you joy and happiness?

Answering this question will help you work towards creating the life you want for the future. This is the time when you can draw clear lines with what does and doesn’t work for you. This is the time to realize what kind of partner isn’t good for you.

Naturally, you are angry due to the betrayal. Although women are not encouraged to express or acknowledge feelings such as anger, working through this anger can help you learn about yourself and live an authentic and happy life. This takes some effort, but it’s liberating and helpful in healing after a breakup or divorce.

4. Stay active and keep yourself occupied

After a betrayal and breakup you may struggle to maintain your regular daily activities during the initial stage of grief.

If you have a chance, you may choose to take some time off work. To heal after a breakup faster, surround yourself with good, positive friends and family.

If you are taking time off work, don’t stay at home the entire time. Take a trip. Visit a good friend or relative.

If you are taking time off work, but don’t want to take a trip, perhaps you can reengage in an old passion or engage in some activities that will require you to learn something new.

What about those paragliding classes you never had a chance to take? Or that painting class you kept putting off? Doing any kind of creative or adventurous activity will stimulate your brain and help you avoid ruminating about your painful feelings. If you are going back to your old passions, avoid doing things you’ve done with him. Right now focus on those things you were doing before meeting him.

Continuing to work can be a better choice for some during this period of grief. You may have a few important projects with deadlines. This will help you maintain some normalcy in life and thus feel more in control. Maintaining your focus on work helps distract you from your breakup or divorce. But be sure you take care of yourself. Read more about self-care tips when you are feeling down.

5. Keep a positive perspective

Going through difficult times like this is not something you signed up for, but it’s helpful to know you can get through it. You’ve experienced difficult times before, and you’ve managed. Remember the resources that helped you during those times. Keeping a positive mindset and surrounding yourself with positive people can make a huge difference in your recovery from betrayal.
Blog written by Dalila Jusic-LaBerge