Infidelity: It’s Not Just About the Sex

By: Dr. Yaacov Rosedale, PhD, LPC, CASAP

When people hear the word “infidelity,” most immediately think of physical cheating. But infidelity wears a lot of faces—and many of them don’t involve sex at all.

Sometimes it’s the text messages that never get shared. Sometimes it’s the long, secretive chats with a co-worker. Sometimes it’s the hidden social media accounts. And sometimes, it’s porn use that spirals into secrecy and emotional withdrawal.

Infidelity isn’t just about what happens in bed. It’s about betrayal, secrecy, and broken trust. It’s about the feeling that something precious—something sacred—has been stolen or given away without consent. And for the betrayed partner, it can feel like the ground has cracked open underneath them.

Let’s be clear: emotional affairs, online flirtations, obsessive porn use, and even financial infidelity can all wound just as deeply as a physical affair. What they all have in common is a break in relational integrity—a disconnect between the shared understanding of the relationship and one partner’s hidden world.

So what does that mean for you?

It means you’re not crazy for feeling hurt, even if “nothing physical happened.”It means your pain is real. And it means there’s work to be done—either to heal together or to heal individually.

The first step is understanding what you’re really dealing with. And that begins by widening the lens on what infidelity can look like. Over the next few posts, we’ll talk about what it feels like to be betrayed, how therapy can help, and what healing can realistically look like.

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If this resonates with you or someone you love, reach out. I’m here to help.—Dr. Yaacov Rosedale, LPC, PhD, CASAP📧 yaacovmr@gmail.com | 📱 +972-52-8084406 | 🇺🇸 513-599-6700