S6E19: I Survived Cancer. Can We Survive Betrayal? A Conversation About Rebuilding Intimacy
Trigger warning: This episode discusses infidelity, depression, and the emotional impact of a cancer diagnosis on relationships.
Can a relationship really recover after an affair? And what happens when infidelity collides with a breast cancer diagnosis?
In this episode, the Besties sit down for a second time with Angela Skurtu — licensed marriage and family therapist, certified sex therapist, and author of Helping Couples Overcome Infidelity — to tackle one of the hardest questions a relationship can face: can you rebuild trust after it's been broken?
The conversation goes deep into the root causes of infidelity, challenging the assumption that cheating is simply about a partner's unavailability or a changing body after cancer. Angela unpacks how burnout, hustle culture, and our society's inability to talk about sex honestly create the conditions where affairs take root — often in midlife, often after a brush with death, and often when two people's identities have quietly diverged.
Along the way, the hosts and Angela get real about why intimacy feels so much harder as we age (it's not just hormones), how the parasympathetic nervous system affects everything from your sex life to your digestion, and why couples who do the raw, honest work after an affair can come out stronger — even if they can never go back to the marriage they had before.
Plus: a very unhinged "Boobs in the News" segment involving a camper, a pair of sunglasses, and a vault toilet.
Learn more or support Faith Through Fire at: faiththroughfire.org
Connect with Angela Skurtu:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Faith Through Fire
- Thrivent Gateway Financial Group
00:00 - Untitled
00:18 - Meet Jes — Mom, Teacher, Athlete & Fitness Enthusiast
05:17 - Overcoming Infidelity — Rebuilding Trust After Betrayal
09:09 - Infidelity: Emotional vs. Physical Distance
17:12 - Boobs in the News — Funny news/tweets segment
22:47 - Accountability, Trust, and Sexual Health in Relationships
26:22 - When Death Changes a Marriage: The Story Behind Infidelity
Welcome to the Besties With Breasties podcast.
Speaker AI'm Beth Wilmes, author, speaker, and founder of a human investment organization otherwise known as a nonprofit called Faith Through Fire.
Speaker AOur mission is to reduce the fear and anxiety breast cancer patients feel and replace it with hope and a path toward thriving.
Speaker BI'm Jess, a mom of two, former college soccer player, elementary PE teacher and fitness enthusiast.
Speaker BI was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer just before my 40th birthday.
Speaker CAnd I'm Jamie, researcher, retired professional boxer and breast cancer survivor who keeps life busy and joyful with a funny farm of animals, a loving family, and a big heart to serve others.
Speaker AThis podcast is about our experiences with.
Speaker BBreast cancer and life after as young survivors and moms.
Speaker BAll right, today we are talking with Angela Skiru.
Speaker BShe has a Master of Education and licensed marriage and family therapist supervisor.
Speaker BShe's also a certified sex therapist supervisor.
Speaker BShe is nationally recognized as a relationship and sex therapist, author, speaker, educator, and founder of Open Bedroom Doors.
Speaker ALove it.
Speaker AThis is the second conversation we've had with Angela.
Speaker AThe first time was kind of reestablishing intimacy after cancer, and now we're talking to her again about overcoming infidelity, probably just generally and then also in the context of a breast cancer diagnosis.
Speaker ASo today we're going to talk about can a relationship really recover after an affair?
Speaker AWhat it takes to rebuild trust and understanding the root cause without excusing the behavior.
Speaker ABut before we get to it with Angela, let's hear from our first sponsor.
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Speaker AYou feel confused by your new post cancer identity and struggle to accept your new normal.
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Speaker AYou feel disconnected from yourself, others, or God.
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Speaker AUnderstanding trauma, cultivating a fighting spirit, managing anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and redefining and reshaping your identity so you can rediscover your joy and purpose in life.
Speaker AYou can participate by visiting faiththroughfire.org survivorship bootcamp.
Speaker AWelcome back, Angela.
Speaker AThanks for joining us for our second episode.
Speaker AWe just had too much to go through to just stop at one episode.
Speaker AThat's how I feel about intimacy.
Speaker AAnd, you know, post cancer, but just generally in life.
Speaker ADon't you agree, Jess?
Speaker BFor sure.
Speaker BI mean, I feel like this is something that every person that goes through a breast cancer journey deals with.
Speaker ADon't you miss?
Speaker AWe're talking about infidelity today, people.
Speaker ABut I'm going to jump back to the podcast that we just finished with Angela about intimacy.
Speaker ADo you remember how easy it was to have intimacy when you're younger?
Speaker BOh, my goodness, yes.
Speaker BAnd now it just feels so hard.
Speaker AIt feels so hard.
Speaker AAnd I just.
Speaker DI.
Speaker AWhy is that, Angela?
Speaker AIs that strictly hormones?
Speaker AIs it, like, why was it so fun and exciting and something that you looked forward to, you know, at the beginning of your evening, knowing how it was going to end?
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd now it's just like, am I going to have enough energy?
Speaker DWell, I mean, we were talking a lot about burnout, and so there's an element to it that is that people are.
Speaker DPeople are taking on too much.
Speaker DAnd a level of intimacy is that you.
Speaker DYou don't have as many responsibilities to deal with.
Speaker DActually, one thing for those of you who do go on vacations, think of, like, how you.
Speaker DYou struggle to have sex every day, but, like, suddenly you get on vacation and, like, even your mindset shifts.
Speaker DYou're like, I'm gonna take my time.
Speaker DNobody gets to tell me what to do.
Speaker DResponsibilities are gone.
Speaker DLike, there's a way that you change the way you talk and experience life on vacation.
Speaker ATrue.
Speaker BI could totally picture that.
Speaker AI am so much more fun on vacation.
Speaker AAnd side note, tmi.
Speaker AHere's a tmi, but this is.
Speaker AI also poop great when I'm on vacation.
Speaker AAnd I know, I know.
Speaker DBecause your mind's pooping.
Speaker ABecause my stress level is so low.
Speaker AIt's like, I unplug from work.
Speaker AI don't think about anybody else.
Speaker ASo my sex life improves, as do my bowels when go on vacation.
Speaker ASo you are so right.
Speaker BWe all need to go on vacation.
Speaker DThat's right.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DIt's because you're in your parasympathetic nervous system, which is your pause and plan, rest and digest, and you actually engage in more mindful pooping.
Speaker DThat's what I call that.
Speaker AOh, hilarious.
Speaker AI don't even have to think about it, Angela.
Speaker AIt just happens, which for me is just rare in everyday life.
Speaker DIt's just lovely.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker DThat's what happens.
Speaker DIn your body when you're present.
Speaker AExactly, exactly.
Speaker AThat's a terrible lead in for infidelity.
Speaker ABut, you know, we're going to say.
Speaker DWe're going to be talking about shit.
Speaker DRight?
Speaker ARight, right, right.
Speaker DExact.
Speaker AHere's the thing.
Speaker AOkay?
Speaker ASo this is about overcoming infidelity and rebuilding trust with your partner.
Speaker AAnd one of the things I have noticed, I don't know if it's related to breast cancer.
Speaker AWe have a lot of breast cancer survivors who have experienced infidelity in the aftermath of cancer.
Speaker AAnd so they correlate the two.
Speaker AThey correlate the infidelity with the cancer diagnosis.
Speaker AI'm not convinced that they're related because I think women immediately go to, I'm not the same, I don't want it as much.
Speaker AMy body's different.
Speaker AAnd therefore they cheated.
Speaker AAnd I don't know if that's fair.
Speaker AI think that there's something more going on.
Speaker ASo what do you think, Angela?
Speaker ALike, where do you.
Speaker AWhere do you see couples get off track?
Speaker AAre most of them in loving relationships and then something just happens?
Speaker AIs it really that superficial based on the partner's availability to them at that moment in time?
Speaker ALike, what are your thoughts on infidelity?
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DSo there's a reason that as a sex therapist, I've written an infidelity book, because there's two reasons people come into couples therapy and one is sex problems and one is infidelity.
Speaker DHere's my book, helping couples overcome infidelity.
Speaker BOkay.
Speaker DWhat the reason is goes back to the American sex box I was talking about last episode.
Speaker DSo let me reframe it again.
Speaker DThe American sex box is a very limited definition of what good sex could be.
Speaker DAnd it basically is we kiss a little, we touch a little.
Speaker DSometimes there's oral sex, but not always, and then there's penetration and that's it.
Speaker DAnd that's the only sex that can count.
Speaker DAnd that box limits people when problems happen.
Speaker DAnd so as a result of people being humans and having problems in day to day life, as soon as a problem like cancer or financial problems or, you know, like, think any problem that happens in your life hits your sex life, if you are limited to that small box, that it's like we can't have sex at all.
Speaker DNow let's go back a bit.
Speaker DI'm going to do a back view to childhood too, because this goes all the way back to how we were raised as well.
Speaker DSo we also are raised in a society where we don't talk about sex in any sort of real or safe way.
Speaker DFor people it's always either shame or fear based or not at all.
Speaker DLike that's, that's basically it.
Speaker DOr you can you.
Speaker DSome people do get the puberty talk.
Speaker DSome people, like in my school we got like two classes.
Speaker DThere was puberty for girls and puberty for boys, but we were split up, so we're never taught to talk to the other partner, like ever.
Speaker DAnd then that's it, that's all you got.
Speaker DSo you get this whole society of people who don't know how to talk about sex in any sort of real or healthy way.
Speaker DAnd you get whatever education people do have is either shame or fear based or not at all.
Speaker DAnd so then people fill in the blanks and guess what the implicit message that's sent is sex isn't okay to talk about.
Speaker DSo then they become these adults who are in relationship with each other and suddenly you throw them in the fire and you're like, figure it out.
Speaker DGuys have a great time.
Speaker DSo they figure some things out.
Speaker DDon't get me wrong, people eventually do have sex and they have kids, but like there's a lot of problems that happen as a result.
Speaker DAnd then if you, one, don't know how to talk about sex and two, you're limited to the sex box, then as soon as sexual problems happen, which they happen for every single person, as soon as the problems happen, then they, they're in shame and they self implode.
Speaker DLike there's something wrong with me or there's something wrong with you.
Speaker DSo you can either implode or explode when you're in shame.
Speaker DThose are the only two options.
Speaker DShame.
Speaker DOnce you.
Speaker DShame.
Speaker DThat's the word, right?
Speaker DSo instead of it being like this is a sexual problem, but let's find a way to talk and figure this out that works for us, which is what would happen if it was in the parasympathetic nervous system, that peaceful part of your nervous system.
Speaker DSex is completely in fight or flight, the sympathetic nervous system.
Speaker DAnd people aren't talking about it.
Speaker DThen they internalize, then they avoid, then they hide and they don't like.
Speaker DIt gets worse and worse.
Speaker DAnd so yes.
Speaker ASo I was going to kind of ask you the difference between whether infidelity comes from emotional distance which then leads to physical distance, or physical distance that then leads to emotional distance.
Speaker AIt sounds like it could be either or both.
Speaker DMen are socialized to feel more comfortable with sex but are abused for being emotional.
Speaker DAnd women are socialized to feel more comfortable with emotions but are abused for being sexual.
Speaker DAnd so then you have two adult humans and heterosexual couples who do not have access to part of their human life.
Speaker DAnd so it's both.
Speaker DAnd it ends up being we don't know how to talk to each other.
Speaker DWe split up in fourth and fifth grade, and we never came back together.
Speaker ASo I'm wondering then, when you're working with couples who have experienced.
Speaker AExperienced infidelity, is it about teaching them on how to kind of make those bids for connection again to where they understand and start to kind of rebuild their communication skills?
Speaker ABecause it sounds like everybody's kind of operating within their own sphere, not given the tools to communicate properly, and then wondering why it's not working.
Speaker DSure.
Speaker DSo this is why I have my book in front of me, Because I have a whole framework for how I guide couples through infidelity.
Speaker DWhen they first come to me, it's just so painful.
Speaker DReally, all I'm doing is crisis management when people first come.
Speaker DSo my first chapter, the first milestone of the book, is reducing the impact of the affair.
Speaker DOnce people are in it, they're so far in fight or flight, they're very reactive, and they're just essentially grasping for pieces because everything's falling apart around them.
Speaker DSo when couples come in to work on infidelity, my only goal is making sure that the choices they make don't make the situation worse.
Speaker DAnd so reducing the impact may look like giving them a timeline for how long it takes to really heal from an infidelity, helping them each to acknowledge the pain.
Speaker DI split them up and I spend some time, like, so first I meet as a couple, but then in the second session, I split them up to just meet each of them where they're at because they both typically have a lot of pain they've been carrying.
Speaker DAnd then there's guilt.
Speaker DSo it's interesting is the person who cheated feels all kinds of guilt because they felt powerless to do anything about what happened.
Speaker DLike, what would tie this into cancer, right?
Speaker DSo, like, they've got a partner who's struggling.
Speaker DThey feel guilty because they're still feeling sexual.
Speaker DThey don't know how to talk to their partner, so they've felt alone and not known what to do.
Speaker DAnd so I need a space to talk to them about, like, feeling abandoned in the relationship.
Speaker DBut then for the person who is hurt, I need a separate space because sometimes talking about that in front of the person who was cheated on is, like, the most painful thing to hear.
Speaker DAnd so in a separate session, I might talk to the person who was hurt about, like, how they feel abandoned now.
Speaker DBecause they were cheated on.
Speaker DAnd, like, again, we were talking about how you.
Speaker DYou can feel like your body betrayed you.
Speaker DSo it's like there's a body betrayal, now there's the partner betrayal.
Speaker DAnd it feels like just everything falls apart around you.
Speaker DAnd so really, I try to give each of them a space to process some of that pain.
Speaker DBut then I walk through a whole process of.
Speaker DLike, one of my chapters is on clarity, like, helping people understand what led to the affair, how to choose whether to stay or leave.
Speaker DSo it's interesting, I think people ask that question for sometimes years after an affair.
Speaker DLike, should I stay?
Speaker DShould I leave?
Speaker DIs this the right situation?
Speaker DAnd I think it's reasonable because, you know, if you think about it like, everything that you once trusted is gone.
Speaker DAnd so there's really a process of figuring out how to stay.
Speaker DAnd if you can stay.
Speaker ADo you think that if somebody cheats, they should come clean with their partner?
Speaker AOr are there circumstances where maybe you don't.
Speaker AIf, you know, it was like, a one and done, and it would just destroy the marriage.
Speaker DI think that partners can tell when you haven't.
Speaker DUnless you're a narcissist.
Speaker ALike, you think they can sense that somebody is.
Speaker DOh, they can.
Speaker DI've watched couples for so long now they can tell when people are still being dishonest, and it prevents healing.
Speaker DThe only ones who are good at lying are narcissists.
Speaker AOh, yeah, the chronic.
Speaker AThat was gonna be my other question.
Speaker AI'm like, when people are contemplating whether to leave or stay.
Speaker AFor me, it would be very easy.
Speaker AIf this is a chronic issue with you that you have unresolved, you know, trauma or something, there's something wrong with you, right?
Speaker AIf you're doing this chronically, there's something wrong with you.
Speaker AI tend to think that if it's, you know, something that happens in a loving relationship, you gotta look at the underlying causes that led the person to betray you.
Speaker ACause that's not their typical character.
Speaker AAnd that's a different conversation.
Speaker DI would just broaden it to say there's either something wrong with the person or there's something wrong with the system of the relationship.
Speaker DAnd every chapter, I write a good story and a bad story that I still tried to find a way to help couples through.
Speaker DBut, like, that's the fun part.
Speaker DIt's like, oh, my God, like, what did they do?
Speaker DSo, like, for chronic cheaters, there really are people who still stay together, but it's just a shattered marriage, and it ends up being a shell of a marriage, basically.
Speaker DBut how people stay is by basically burying their head in the sand.
Speaker DRight.
Speaker DSo there are people who are still in chronic cheating marriages, but they basically turn a blind eye because there's other things in the marriage that are still serving them.
Speaker DLike financial.
Speaker DUsually it's financial, Right.
Speaker DSo it's one of those, like, at.
Speaker AWhich point I lose all empathy.
Speaker DYeah, well, I mean, that's why I'm.
Speaker ANot in your business, because I would be like, no, don't feel bad for you.
Speaker DYeah, but you have.
Speaker DMaybe you have money that you could leave, but not every person can.
Speaker DRight.
Speaker DLike, you guys gotta look at, like, different socioeconomic statuses.
Speaker DThere's situations where people have been, like, people don't have the skills to leave and have a job on their own.
Speaker DThey don't know how to divorce.
Speaker DOr the abuse is so bad that, like, they're.
Speaker DThey're terrified to leave.
Speaker DSo I just.
Speaker DI have a lot of compassion for people in these different situations.
Speaker DYou essentially, I see infidelity.
Speaker DLike, you had this mirror and you just broke it.
Speaker DYou just shattered it to the ground.
Speaker DSo you literally cannot have the same marriage after infidelity that you once did.
Speaker DYou can take those pieces and build something new, and usually it's like a new art form of sorts, but you cannot have the old marriage, and you don't want the old marriage.
Speaker AWell, that's the same thing with cancer.
Speaker AOnce you have cancer, you can't go back to the person you were before.
Speaker AThat person doesn't exist anymore.
Speaker ASo now you're building a new version of yourself.
Speaker AAnd whether that's a better version is completely up to you.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AI know many couples that suffered infidelity in their marriages, and they built back stronger.
Speaker AAnd I think it's awesome that they did the work that they examined what was going wrong, like you said, either systematically or just emotionally or unresolved traumas and all the things.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AAnd then they decided as a team to approach that together.
Speaker AI think that's amazing.
Speaker DWell, and I want to track back to that original question of should you tell or not?
Speaker DThe ones who make it get very raw and honest with each other.
Speaker DAnd that doesn't mean they're not mean to each other, but they're very honest on both sides.
Speaker DAnd they start having very real conversations, including about what happened with the affair and what led to it.
Speaker DAnd so those couples who can really face it with some kindness and compassion then start making a better relationship, but the ones who withhold their partners absolutely can feel it and sense it.
Speaker DAnd I can sense it Too.
Speaker DBut I don't.
Speaker DLike, as the therapist, it's not my job to be like, you're lying.
Speaker DBecause, of course, you know, are they going to do your job?
Speaker AThat's exactly what I'd be doing here.
Speaker DTo point that out exact.
Speaker DNo, nobody does that.
Speaker DBut I can sense like, okay, something's still being withheld here because my skills are effective.
Speaker DActually, I've.
Speaker DI've been working on this for 20 years.
Speaker DSo when people are doing their part to be honest and direct with each other and also heal their wounds, then they do become better than ever.
Speaker DBut it's like, I can say.
Speaker DI can tell exactly in the process when somebody has started to talk to the other partner or when something is being kept because it impacts the.
Speaker DThe ability of the skill to really heal the couple.
Speaker AOkay, interesting.
Speaker AI want to talk about going into that, understanding the root cause.
Speaker ABut before we do that, you guys want to do Boobs in the News?
Speaker BYes.
Speaker BLet's do it.
Speaker ABoobs in the News is a fun segment where we read funny tweets by real people or ridiculous news stories.
Speaker DBibs in the news.
Speaker DBibs in the news, baby.
Speaker AAll right, here it is.
Speaker BHit me.
Speaker AAll right, this is.
Speaker AThis has happened to many people.
Speaker DUh, oh, I've heard.
Speaker AI've.
Speaker AI've heard this story happen before, but this just happened this month.
Speaker ASo the name of this news article is camp visitor falls into toilet and gets stuck.
Speaker BOh, no.
Speaker BLike, in a latrine, like, outhouse type situation.
Speaker AI mean, it was at a campground, so I'm gonna think, yes.
Speaker AAnd I literally.
Speaker AThat idea of falling into, like, a gross, gross, disgusting, porta Potty type situation.
Speaker AI think I'd be scarred for life and have to go to therapy.
Speaker BDo you fall in?
Speaker AWell, it says a visitor to a popular California campground accidentally dropped his sunglasses into a camp toilet and tried to retrieve them.
Speaker AOh, no way.
Speaker AMaybe an iPhone.
Speaker AMaybe an iPhone.
Speaker AMaybe.
Speaker AI say maybe.
Speaker AAnd even then, I don't.
Speaker BI don't think I could do it.
Speaker DI don't know.
Speaker ASo, yeah, I couldn't do it.
Speaker ABe like, that's gone.
Speaker BI would be vomiting.
Speaker ASo he dropped his sunglasses, tried to retrieve them.
Speaker AIt ended exactly how you think it would.
Speaker BEmergency.
Speaker BSo he went head first.
Speaker BHe went first.
Speaker AEmergency crews had to fish him out.
Speaker COh, no.
Speaker BThey had to call.
Speaker BOh, my gosh.
Speaker AThe Fresno County Sheriff's office said the visitor to Camp Edison in Sierra Nevada foothills tumbled into the vault toilet and required a confined space rescue.
Speaker ADo you know what would happen if I was in that toilet?
Speaker ALike, that oh, my God.
Speaker BMe too.
Speaker BI like.
Speaker AYou ever see those reels where somebody gets grossed out and they start gagging?
Speaker AIt is the funniest thing.
Speaker BYeah, I.
Speaker BThat is.
Speaker BI can't even believe that this happens all the time.
Speaker BI would be like, just whatever.
Speaker DOh.
Speaker AThis person did not speak English.
Speaker AIt said, via a Spanish translator.
Speaker AThey advised that the subject had fallen into a chemical storage tank.
Speaker ALuckily, first responders got him out in about 15 minutes, and he wasn't worse for wear, although the California fire department did hose him down.
Speaker AWell, thankfully, the funny part about how they end this is it's unclear if he got his sunglasses back.
Speaker BOh, my gosh.
Speaker AI mean, if I fall into the toilet, I'm get.
Speaker AThose things are coming out with me.
Speaker BYou're fishing around, looking for them.
Speaker DOh, my God.
Speaker DDid you know they probably sink?
Speaker ADon't you think you have to get lots of shots?
Speaker BWell, that's what I was like.
Speaker BHow do you get all of that gunk and detox from falling into.
Speaker AI think I would have.
Speaker BBecause all the chemicals and the feces, like, gross.
Speaker AI'm, like, envisioning, like, Shawshank Redemption where he has to go through the sewer pipe, you know, and climb through it and just.
Speaker ABut I think this is almost worse.
Speaker BYeah.
Speaker BBecause you're inside it.
Speaker BI mean, I guess he was climbing through.
Speaker AYes.
Speaker AThere's no out.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker BYou're like, think of a swimming.
Speaker BYou're, like, in a swimming pool of.
Speaker BBut a small one.
Speaker AOh, God.
Speaker BAnd there's no place to go.
Speaker AI'm very anti porta Potty.
Speaker ALike, how do you feel about porta potties?
Speaker BOh, I will use them.
Speaker AYou will?
Speaker BI will.
Speaker AI.
Speaker AUnder duress, I will use them.
Speaker BI prefer, if I'm in that situation, to just find a tree.
Speaker BI know that sounds really.
Speaker ANo, I mean.
Speaker BBut I would much rather just be out in nature than in the porta Potty.
Speaker BIf I have to go.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker BAnd there's, like, people around, then I obviously will go in the port.
Speaker AI'm out.
Speaker ALindenwood here for a second.
Speaker AMy kids run track, and every time we go to, like, a track meet at a school, they all have regular bathrooms with regular toilets and air conditioning.
Speaker ALindenwood has that beautiful campus, and every single.
Speaker DThey.
Speaker AAll they have is latrines.
Speaker BReally?
Speaker AIt's so gross.
Speaker BI'm actually surprised.
Speaker AI know.
Speaker AThat's what I'm saying.
Speaker AThe amount of money that that school now brings in.
Speaker AAnd I think they're division one now, and they've put all this time and effort into their sports programs.
Speaker AAnd you go to a track meet, which is an all day affair, so you're gonna use the bathrooms.
Speaker BAnd if you're a runner, you have like the runner's hoops.
Speaker AOh, yeah.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker BSo it's gross.
Speaker AOh, it's so gross.
Speaker ASo there's like eight porta potties, and everybody's in line for them.
Speaker AAnd after all day use, it is absolutely repulsive.
Speaker AAnd so I have a thing about porta potties anyway.
Speaker AI have to be under absolute duress to do it, but there you have no choice.
Speaker ASo then I'm kind of like, you know, I'm.
Speaker AI go in and I hope that they have the hand sanitizer.
Speaker ANo, there's no hand sanitizer on the wall.
Speaker ASo then you're like, okay, I'm dealing with like a code red here.
Speaker BYeah, Right.
Speaker AAnd I mean, there's no way, unless I had diarrhea, that I'm pooping.
Speaker AI'll just hold it, you know what I mean?
Speaker AAnd be miserable.
Speaker ABut then I'm bracing myself against the back because I'll squat.
Speaker AI'm not sitting.
Speaker DOh, no.
Speaker AAre you sitting?
Speaker CNo.
Speaker ASo then as a woman, you have to worry about dribble.
Speaker BOh, yeah.
Speaker ASo then it's like if you dribble, then you feel gross the rest of the day, right?
Speaker AYou have no hand sanitizer.
Speaker BIt's disgusting.
Speaker BI mean, are you just leaving the track meet then so you can go to a gas station?
Speaker ASo I did do that last time, and it sucked because I gave up my parking spot.
Speaker BAnd then you had to park all the way.
Speaker AAnd then I had to park all the way down the hill.
Speaker ASo I don't know.
Speaker ALike, I mean, this should have been a boobs in the news on its own.
Speaker ALindenwood.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker ALike, I'm calling you out.
Speaker AGet some freaking bathrooms.
Speaker ALike, you know, splurge for the freaking concrete bathroom toilet situation.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker DYou're too good for this.
Speaker AToo good.
Speaker DThere's your bibs.
Speaker CBibs.
Speaker DAnd then is bibs and the news.
Speaker AOkay, we're back.
Speaker ASo what I'm hearing from you, Angela, is.
Speaker AI mean, this is so par for the course.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker AIt's not just sexual and it's not just emotional.
Speaker AIt's like this inner working that you have to kind of figure out what's going on.
Speaker AAnd there's always an understory.
Speaker AIt sounds like, right.
Speaker AThere's always an understory for both partners.
Speaker AIs there an accountability piece for both people in the relationship?
Speaker AAnd the stepping out is just kind of a product of that or you.
Speaker BKnow what I mean?
Speaker ALike, where's the distribution of blame here from a therapeutic standpoint?
Speaker DWell, I'm a big fan of responsibility and accountability, and I don't.
Speaker DWhat I have to be very careful with in terms of messaging is that the person who was cheated on blame themselves for the affair.
Speaker DSo for cheating, whoever cheated, that's their responsibility, that they are the ones who took those actions.
Speaker DAnd so they do need to own the choices they made because they could have talked to their partner and said, I need help.
Speaker DTalked to their partner and said, I need therapy.
Speaker DMaybe decided, you know what, this isn't working for me.
Speaker DCan we come up with something like that?
Speaker DThere were many options they could have taken other than cheating.
Speaker DAnd so that person 100% needs to take ownership for the choices they made to step out of the marriage.
Speaker DAnd it's a mess they both have to solve.
Speaker DSo when they.
Speaker DWhen you bring the other partner in, I'm very careful to make sure they don't blame themselves for cheating, but that when they're taking ownership, they're taking ownership for.
Speaker DHave we created a safe environment for talking to each other?
Speaker DWas therapy brought up at some point, but I shut it down because I wasn't willing, because sometimes that happens where people are seeking help and they don't get support.
Speaker DAre there ways that we haven't learned to communicate that is effectively.
Speaker DAre there things, intimacy wise, that I've struggled with personally that I need to grow in?
Speaker DRight.
Speaker DAnd so, and it's interesting because every time I have a sex talk in infidelity treatment, then trust issues come up every single time.
Speaker DLike, it's this interesting, like, we'll start a sex talk and then somebody brings up, like, the struggle and trust because they're intricately intertwined.
Speaker DRight.
Speaker ATrust outside sexual trust.
Speaker AIt's like trust in other ways.
Speaker DI trust you in general, in life.
Speaker DYeah.
Speaker DTrust and sex are intertwined, which is, again, I said this in the last training, but.
Speaker DOr podcast, but basically, like, when I hear people say, you know, how do you integrate sexual health into mental health?
Speaker DAnd I'm like, it is mental health.
Speaker DLike, everything I do when I talk about sex covers everything else when it comes to mental health, like emotion regulation and the way we treat ourselves internally and how couples work together as a team and create a safe environment for communication.
Speaker DLike, sexual health is mental health.
Speaker DAnd I want everyone to hear that forever.
Speaker AI've seen it where sometimes, like, infidelity is just like, the byproduct.
Speaker ABut like, I'm seeing a lot of people, especially in Middle age, who are, for the first time in their lives, dealing with depression.
Speaker AAnd it's like.
Speaker AAnd I'm wondering how often you think undiagnosed or untreated depression is often at the foundation of these relationship problems, both with just generalized intimacy, then infidelity, the communication issues.
Speaker ABecause I am seeing this a lot in midlife, where either the wife or the husband is just completely baffled by their spouse's change in demeanor.
Speaker AThey're like, I know they love me, but.
Speaker AAnd it just, like, when they describe how they're acting, my first thought is like, oh, they're depressed.
Speaker AThey're showing signs of depression.
Speaker AAnd then how much does that spiral into these other behaviors?
Speaker ALike, do you see that a lot?
Speaker DSo in the book, I tell the story that starts every infidelity.
Speaker DAnd it sounds like this.
Speaker DSo somehow the couple faces death somehow in some way, right?
Speaker DSo cancer is one version of death.
Speaker DSometimes it's a parent who dies.
Speaker DSometimes it's like a really close loved one.
Speaker DBut they're somewhere in their 40s, and somehow they face death as a teen.
Speaker DAnd from there, then there's this period of time where, like, death changes people, right?
Speaker DLike, when.
Speaker DWhen we face death, it breathes new life into our.
Speaker DInto our experience, right?
Speaker DAnd so what that means is that one person, like, so we change in our identities over time.
Speaker DAnd so one person starts to grow as a result of facing death, and the other person maybe, like, goes into that depressive mode where it, like, it's like, wow, this changed me forever.
Speaker DAnd I don't know how to connect with this.
Speaker DSo it.
Speaker DIt starts with a type of grief that then moves into depression of sorts.
Speaker DAnd then you've got two people whose identities have essentially diverged.
Speaker DAnd then.
Speaker DAnd then when they're diverged, usually it's the depressed one that then meets another person in a similar walk of life.
Speaker DBecause literally everybody's on repeat like this.
Speaker DThis story repeats over and over again to the point that it's the one story I tell and everybody'.
Speaker DThat was my story.
Speaker DAnd I'm like, I know because it's all of your story.
Speaker AYeah, we think we're so unique.
Speaker D20 Years.
Speaker AYeah, we always think we're so unique.
Speaker AAnd it's like, no, we're not.
Speaker AWe're big, dumb animals that keep doing.
Speaker DThe same things back to that burnout, right?
Speaker DBecause what happens in the 40s is you suddenly look around and you're like, you've had this big death experience.
Speaker DYou're like, is this all there is?
Speaker DLike, is this all there is left in life.
Speaker DI'm just going to work until I die, and I'm not what.
Speaker DWhat is on the other side?
Speaker DAnd so what ends up happening is this person diverges with the path of another person who's going through the same experience.
Speaker DThey're usually both married, and they start commiserating and saying, yeah, I think there's something on the other side of life.
Speaker DAnd they're right, there is something on the other side of life.
Speaker DBut they're approaching, like, they end up in this situation in a unhealthy way for the current relationship instead of.
Speaker DAgain, what I'm trying to change the world with is like, we've got to shift this hustle culture shit that's really killing us because it kills us inside, too.
Speaker DAnd then when you face death and you realize there's only so much life to live, I only have so many minutes on this earth.
Speaker DMy person, whoever this person is, died, or we're facing cancer, death is imminent.
Speaker DAnd here we are just, like, churning through life and hustling, and I never smile.
Speaker DLike, that's what happens.
Speaker DAnd then, like, suddenly, okay, so this other person comes in your path and they're breathing a little life into you.
Speaker DYou realize, like, wow, maybe there is something else out there.
Speaker DAnd they start feeling good about themselves for the first time ever.
Speaker DAnd they haven't felt that way with their partner in years.
Speaker DAnd no, I'm not.
Speaker DI'm never condoning cheating.
Speaker DI never want that.
Speaker DBut this is how it happens.
Speaker DAnd so suddenly, this other person's giving them attention, and they're starting to feel alive again, and they realize I want more.
Speaker DAnd then they keep kind of crossing boundaries and making choices.
Speaker DAnd it's almost like.
Speaker DIt's like in the fight flight, it's reactive because when you ask them, I'll ask them all the time, like, do you know, Like, I stopped asking why?
Speaker DBecause I already know the answer now.
Speaker DBut back in the day when I would ask, why did it happen or how did it happen?
Speaker DThey would be, I don't know, it just happened so fast.
Speaker DAnd it's because it's reactive.
Speaker DIt's reactive to all this pain and, like, fear and end of life experience they're facing.
Speaker DAnd they just.
Speaker ASo what I'm hearing is like, midlife crisis is like a juncture where you want to be real careful.
Speaker DYeah, midlife crisis and facing death.
Speaker DBut I mean, really what I want to go go back to is I'm trying to teach people how to have a quality of life from the beginning, you know?
Speaker DThat there are ways to prevent this.
Speaker DIt doesn't have to end in infidelity, but it does because, again, people don't know how to talk about sex and relationships in a way that's like quality.
Speaker DThey.
Speaker DThey're literally living in hustle culture, and they're getting so burnt out that by the time they have someone cross their path that breathes just a little life in them, they're like.
Speaker DIt's like a breath of fresh air.
Speaker DAnd they've been dying inside for years.
Speaker AYeah, that makes sense.
Speaker AWell, I want to.
Speaker AI want to end with your book again, where people can buy it, and also your podcast.
Speaker ABut before we do that, let's hear from our second sponsor.
Speaker CThrivent is a proud sponsor of Faith through Fire.
Speaker CThrivent believes money is a tool, not a goal.
Speaker CThe Gateway Financial Group with Thrivent is local to the St. Louis area and can work with you to create a financial strategy that reflects your priorities and helps you protect the things that matter to you, like family and giving back.
Speaker CPlease call 314-783-4214 to schedule a free consultation with one of Thriven's Gateway Financial advisors.
Speaker BAll right, we are back.
Speaker BThank you so much, Angela, for spending some time with us talking about some of these really tough topics.
Speaker BWhat are your final words?
Speaker BDo you have anything in particular you want to leave our audience with today?
Speaker DThey're meant to be these poignant words.
Speaker DYou know, I love all these couples.
Speaker DI love all of you.
Speaker DAnd really, that's my only goal in this world, is to leave a legacy of love.
Speaker DWith every step I take, with every course I teach, I wanna.
Speaker DI don't just wanna leave a legacy myself, though.
Speaker DI wanna teach my clients and couples how to leave that legacy too.
Speaker DBecause what.
Speaker DNo matter what, when you die, you leave a legacy.
Speaker DYou leave a mark on this world.
Speaker DAnd so I ask, I invite you to consider joining me and leaving a legacy of love.
Speaker AI love that.
Speaker AReally quickly, where can they find your book and say the title again?
Speaker AWhere they can find it and where can they find your podcast?
Speaker DSo everything can be found at my website, openbedroomdoors.com there's a whole page of my books and I have several.
Speaker DI also have a course for couples there and for the show, if they also want to go to YouTube, they can go to YouTube.com penbedroomdoors so it's always open bedroom doors, Instagram, open bedroom doors.
Speaker DJust look for the open bedroom doors.
Speaker DYou'll actually see a door just popping out.
Speaker ASo creative.
Speaker AI love it.
Speaker AThank you so much, Angela.
Speaker AUntil next time guys.
Speaker BSee ya.
Speaker AThank you for being a listener of the Besties with Breasties podcast.
Speaker AIf this podcast had a positive impact on your journey, leave us a review or consider becoming a supporter.
Speaker AYou can donate with the link in the show notes or@faiththroughfire.org.
Speaker DJ.
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