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Letters from Lauren is for anyone whose life has been touched by infidelity, on any side of the triangle: the betrayed spouse, the person caught between a marriage and an affair, the affair partner, and the people who love them. If you're tired of advice that picks a side, assigns blame, or rushes you toward an outcome, you're in the right place. Every week, you'll get a personal letter from me about what I'm noticing, learning, and thinking about from inside 15 years of working with people on every side of an affair. It will always be honest, clinically grounded, and free of judgment. Real insight, real stories, including my own, and the steady reminder that you're not alone, and you don't have to figure this out on your own. I'm here to help you see what's hard to see from inside the pain.
Dear reader, When unfaithful clients meet with Michelle or me, one of the first things we often hear is this: "I never thought I'd be that person." What that statement really means is: I once judged people who did what I've now done.When someone says that, they're making a statement about who they believe they are: their morals, their values, and their sense identity. And, who they believe they aren't. When we become someone we never thought we'd be, we enter a kind of identity crisis. It...
Dear Reader, Some years ago I read an essay in The New York Times by Amy Sutherland called "What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage." She had spent time with the trainers who work with dolphins and killer whales... Then, she decided to take her cues from them and praise her husband for all the good things he did, too. A lil' experiment, so to speak. Guess what. Their marriage turned around. A dolphin keeps doing good things because of the praise and the clapping. As Amy praised and...
Dear Reader, A couple of weeks ago I sat down with my life partner, his dearest friends, and their wives for Rosh Hashanah dinner. I’m not Jewish, but he is, and so for the past few years we’ve gathered with his friends to celebrate the Jewish New Year. This year, the Friday of Rosh Hashanah was also 9/11. We usually go to a service in the park for the holiday. Instead, this year, we visited his parents at their home. His father was at the site when the towers came down on 9/11. He was able...