Emotional Affairs at Work - Is Your Partner Having an Emotional Affair at Work?

Dr. Purushothaman
January 13, 2014

 

Emotional affairs at work are a sad fact of life, but if you are the injured party in an emotional affair in the workplace, then it is truly devastating. Whether you are male or female such an affair turns your whole world upside down. Here you're going to discover how to tell if your partner is having an emotional affair in the workplace and how to survive it...
First though, although emotional affairs at work (or anywhere else) are devastating whether you're male or female, there is an interesting piece of research that indicates that, whereas the majority of females consider an emotional affair to be worse than a physical one, the majority of males believe a physical affair is worse.
Females may be more affected by emotional affairs because the emotional bonds in women -- who are usually the nurturers and nurture and protect the family unit -- are much more powerful than in men. So that they may feel that they and the family unit are more threatened by emotional infidelity than by a physical affair.
On the other hand, with males, physical infidelity is much more of a challenge to their self-perceived standing in the household and their manhood than emotional affairs.
So why are there so many emotional affairs at work? The answer is really quite simple; they happen there more than any other place because people of both sexes work in such close proximity to one another on a regular basis. If you think about it, working people probably spend more time with their work colleagues than with their spouses or partners.
And what are the signs that your significant other is having an emotional affair at work? Here are a few clues to look out for...
1. Their so-called 'friendship' is kept from you. If the friendship was purely platonic why would they need to do this? Why couldn't you be a part of it?
2. They get regular phone calls, e-mails and text messages that they hide from you.
3. If you discover these they will say that it's work business or purely friendship.
4. They are spending way more time out of the house, 'at work,' ' at meetings,' etc. than they used to.
5. They spend less time in meaningful conversations with you.
6. They have less interest in sex with you.
7. They can become more critical of your appearance.
There are many more clues for emotional affairs at work, but these seven give you an idea of the kind of signs to look for. So, if you suspect, or already know about, their emotional affair, how do you proceed?
The first thing to say is that you should take action sooner rather than later. By acting at the earliest opportunity you will stand a much better chance of resolving the issue and repairing the relationship.
But, and it's a big 'but,' you need to proceed with the utmost care. You see, what you do now and how you do it will have a significant impact on the outcome you desire.
This is where marriage / relationship counseling comes in. Good guidance counseling can be very effective in repairing marriages / relationships. These highly trained people are experts at helping to resolve issues such as emotional affairs at work...
But, the problem for most folks, though, is this can be a long process that needs complete commitment from both parties. Unfortunately, it is a fact of life that many men just won't attend counseling. And, there is no escaping the fact that marriage guidance can be very expensive as well.
So, does that mean that you try to work things through yourself, learning as you go along? I say no, because you aren't a trained specialist and, as I said above, you can make things much worse that way.
However, there is an effective and much cheaper alternative, and that is to use the expertise of guidance counselors online rather than face to face. Many counselors have produced downloadable guides (e-books) that lay out how to work through all the issues required to survive emotional affairs and repair the marriage / relationship.
The benefits of tackling emotional affairs at work this way are that it is way cheaper, men feel more comfortable working through the issues this way, and, you both work through the steps at home without having to continually go across town for counseling.

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