Rebuild trust and find your way forward

Betrayal Recovery Couples Counseling in NYC

Move through the pain together.

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Affair Recovery, Infidelity Therapy & Trust Rebuilding

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Betrayal can feel like an earthquake in a relationship - sudden, disorienting and deeply destabilizing. Whether the rupture involved an emotional affair, physical infidelity, secrecy, or boundary violations, the aftermath often leaves both partners unsure how to move forward.

Our betrayal recovery couples counseling is grounded in decades of relationship research and is designed to help couples heal in a structured, evidence-based way.

If You’ve Experienced Betrayal …

The injured partner may feel:

  • Constantly on edge, hyper-vigilant or emotionally flooded

  • Preoccupied with unanswered questions or mental “replays”

  • Unsure whether to trust their own judgment again

  • Torn between wanting closeness and needing distance

The partner who caused the betrayal may feel:

  • Overwhelming shame

  • Defensive, shut down or unsure how to help

  • Frustrated by feeling permanently defined by the rupture

  • Lost about how to rebuild trust in a way that actually works

Both partners often feel disconnected, exhausted and trapped in conversations that either escalate or go nowhere.

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How Betrayal Recovery Couples Counseling Helps

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Betrayal recovery requires more than communication skills. It requires safety, accountability and a clear framework for repair.

In our work together, we help couples:

  • Stabilize emotional overwhelm

  • Understand how trust was broken and how it can be rebuilt

  • Establish clear boundaries and transparency agreements

  • Replace cycles of blame, interrogation, or withdrawal with structured dialogue

  • Restore emotional safety without rushing forgiveness or reconciliation

This process creates a shared roadmap so both partners know what healing actually requires—rather than guessing, defending, or avoiding.

“An affair is like a radioactive substance: dangerous and potentially lethal, but also a powerful agent of change. Energy that’s released by the affair gradually launches new insights and improved interactions that revamp the marriage. Relationships are often remarkably revitalized” - Shirley Glass

What does betrayal recovery look like?

While the work is challenging, couples frequently report meaningful shifts over time.

You may notice:

  • Difficult conversations are less explosive or avoidant

  • Greater clarity about what you need and what you can offer to navigate painful moments

  • Conversations that feel calmer, more honest, and more grounded

  • Accountability replaces shame

  • A growing sense of internal steadiness rather than constant vigilance

  • Needs are expressed directly rather than through control or withdrawal

  • A gradual return of emotional and physical closeness

  • Tools to navigate future stressors without disconnection

Learn more
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Client Testimonials

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We absolutely love Janine!

She came highly recommended to us by a friend who saw her for couple therapy.

She really made us feel comfortable.

- P & R, NYC

Janine was our couples therapist during a rough period in our marriage. We had seen two couples therapists and didn’t feel like it helped. Our time with Janine brought us back from what felt like a point of no return.

We are really grateful to have found her.

- Mei & James, CA

Hard to think where we would be without couples therapy! I’m anxious and my husband is avoidant and we kept triggering each other.

We really learned about how to be kind to each other. What amazing progress.

- Anonymous

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The Atlas approach to Betrayal Recovery:

Our betrayal recovery therapy is structured, phased, trauma-informed and evidence-based.

We begin by addressing the immediate crisis: reducing emotional flooding and creating stability. From there, we guide couples through a deliberate process that includes:

  • Containment & Safety
    Creating predictable sessions, clear boundaries, and emotional guardrails

  • Accountability & Transparency
    Supporting full responsibility-taking and trust-repair behaviors

  • Understanding the Breach
    Exploring how emotional distance, unmet needs, or boundary erosion developed

  • Rebuilding Connection
    Restoring friendship, emotional attunement, and mutual influence

You will not be pushed to “move on,” minimize your pain, or forgive prematurely. Our role is to provide structure, pacing, and clinical guidance so healing is possible without further harm.

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  • We use Gottman-based assessments and interventions to identify strengths and areas of opportunity that erode and enhance connection. You’ll learn to communicate more effectively, de-escalate conflict, and rebuild friendship and trust—even in the midst of deep pain and overwhelm.

  • EFT helps us get beneath the surface of arguments and into the vulnerable emotions that drive them. We'll work to uncover attachment wounds, soften defenses, and begin to restore emotional safety and closeness.

  • We used IFS to help each of you understand your / each other’s inner worlds. This will support both of you in more gently and compassionately navigating each other’s dreams, hopes, triggers, fears.

Learn more

Meet the Team

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    Janine Cheng, LCSW

    Founder + Clinical Director

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    Dr. Stephanie Chin, PhD

    Psychologist

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  • A young woman with long brown hair wearing a white turtleneck sweater looking at the camera with a slight smile, against a light green background.

    Joy Belamarich, LCSW

    Psychotherapist

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  • A woman with long brown hair, wearing a light pink sweater and gold earrings, smiling at the camera against a light green background.

    Natalie Dupre, LMSW

    Psychotherapist

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 FAQs

  • Betrayal recovery is not linear. Many couples notice stabilization within the first few months, while deeper trust rebuilding often takes 6–12 months depending on the severity of the breach, transparency, and consistency of repair efforts.

  • Yes. Even when the behavior has stopped, the emotional injury often remains. Therapy helps address lingering hypervigilance, resentment, and fear so trust can be rebuilt rather than avoided.

  • This is extremely common. Therapy helps slow the process to the pace of healing rather than avoidance.

  • No. Emotional affairs, secrecy, internet affairs, and repeated boundary violations can be just as damaging. We treat betrayal based on impact, not labels.

  • Many couples do. With structure, honesty, and sustained repair, relationships can become more emotionally intimate, transparent, and resilient than before.

  • Betrayal recovery therapy is designed to offer clarity. The process supports grounded decision-making based on a deeper understanding of your needs, both individually and as a couple—regardless of the final outcome.

Experience personalized therapy at our office in Nomad

All in-person sessions will take place in a warm, inviting space that will help you feel calm and centered for the work.

The office is located in Nomad and easily accessible via the 1, 2, 3, N, R, W, B, D, F, M and 6 lines.

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