A partner’s betrayal is a very traumatic experience. It can have long-lasting consequences for the individual who was betrayed. In experiencing this, the individual encounters various emotional states and finds himself in deep distress. It is important that he allows himself to feel all the feelings without shame and does not suppress those feelings. Only by doing so the individual will be able to successfully process and overcome those feelings and continue with his life. Only in succeeding in this, he will be able to truly forgive the person who betrayed him, and thus get rid of anger and old grudges, and find his inner peace. At the same time, the path of reconciliation can be opened if he wants to rebuild and re-establish a broken partnership.
The master's thesis focuses on the experience of reconciliation and forgiveness in adults with a history of betrayal in a partnership. The theoretical part describes the processes of reconciliation and forgiveness, traumatic experiences and relational trauma, conflict, traumatic partnership, and related forgiveness. The empirical part uses a qualitative phenomenological psychological method, which was used to investigate how adults experience the process of reconciliation and forgiveness when betrayed in a partnership. Five participants, four women and one man participated in the study. Research has shown that a partner’s betrayal has been a very difficult and painful ordeal for them. It took them quite some time and effort to get through. Only when they achieved that, they were willing to forgive. Two participants and their partners managed to reconcile and restore their broken relationship, while reconciliation was not possible for the other three participants. The research finds that despite the difficult ordeal, the individuals overcame it, even though the situation was sometimes hopeless. It is possible to live a happy life full of hope for the future by facing and achieving forgiveness (and reconciliation).
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