Three connected studies, one practical question: what helps trust return?

After infidelity, couples may want to reconnect but struggle to feel safe again. Reassurance, openness and checking may offer temporary certainty, but which efforts actually help trust return? Despite the problem’s importance in couple psychotherapy, relatively few empirical studies directly compare repair strategies or test targeted interventions.

The aim is to give psychotherapists better data and couples clearer guidance: first by reviewing the evidence, then examining behaviours linked with recovery, and finally testing a structured programme in a randomized trial.