Self-Assessment: Is it an Emotional Affair? Interactive checklist with scored results
Is It an Emotional Affair?
Rather than define what constitutes an emotional affair, the following questions are designed to help you evaluate the degree to which you may have wandered into an inappropriate relationship with someone outside your marriage.
The more items that apply, the more likely you've crossed the line from innocent friendship into emotional affair territory. Do your best to be truthful with yourself as you work through this list.
0 items checked
No signs of concern.
Based on your responses, your outside relationship does not show signs of crossing into emotional affair territory. Continue to maintain healthy, transparent boundaries in all your relationships.
The relationship may already be inappropriate.
If you want to avoid further entanglement, you need to back off from its momentum and either set some clear boundaries or break it off completely. Consider telling your spouse at this early stage. This honesty can prevent much eventual heartache and build trust and accountability between you.
You are in over your head.
Your heart and your marriage are in danger. You need outside help and the courage to tell your spouse the truth if you want to stop this relationship from progressing into a full-blown affair.
This is a full-blown emotional affair.
You are already engaged in a full-blown emotional affair and/or some stage of a physical affair. Your marriage is in crisis, whether your spouse knows it or not. Your spouse needs to be let in on your secret to help break the "spell" of this emotional connection, and you need to seek outside help immediately.
Adapted by Tim Tedder from Is it an Emotional Affair? by Linda J. MacDonald. Used with the author's permission.
lindajmacdonald.com © 2009, 2014
lindajmacdonald.com © 2009, 2014