

Your Secret Is Safe With Me
Dr. Marie Murphy
Dr. Marie Murphy talks about infidelity and other challenging relationship situations from a non-judgmental perspective. She shares practical tools and advice from her own coaching practice to help you make changes in your love life, and interviews professionals with complementary expertise, such as family law attorneys, mediators, non-violent communication specialists, and more. In addition, Marie discusses the social and historical context of romantic relationships to provide perspective on our taken-for-granted assumptions about how relationships are supposed to be. To learn more, visit mariemurphyphd.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 1, 2023 • 29min
143. Treating Your Infidelity Situation as a Life Project
Are you viewing your infidelity as an unsolvable mystery, or are you ready to tackle it as a life project, an opportunity for resolution, and personal growth? Your perspective on the situation can greatly impact the outcome. Join us this week to explore new methods to confront and manage infidelity situations. Relationship expert, Dr. Marie Murphy, will provide insightful guidance on how to approach infidelity as a life project, offering a fresh perspective that may make a world of difference in your journey to resolution. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/143

6 snips
May 25, 2023 • 31min
142. Trying to Get Back to the Way a Relationship Used to Be
The podcast explores the complexities of recommitting after infidelity and the struggle to return to a previous relationship dynamic. It emphasizes the importance of letting go of the past to create a brighter future with a primary partner, focusing on genuine desires and introspection in navigating relationships.

May 18, 2023 • 39min
141. Contentment That Isn’t Dependent Upon a Relationship
As a society, we have decided that if you aren’t in a romantic relationship, you are alone. It’s fine to prefer having a partner (or partners) over not having one. However, it’s time to start creating that feeling of contentment for yourself without relying on a relationship in order to feel positive. Discover how to generate contentment without relying on a romantic partner to help you create it. Learn how to spot the thoughts that lead to unhelpful beliefs about the necessity of having a romantic partner, and how to pursue what you want from a place of being content without it. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/141

May 11, 2023 • 31min
140. Loneliness
When it comes to infidelity and loneliness, there are two distinct-but-related problems. One is that as humans, we don’t like feeling lonely. The other is that people will go to pretty extreme lengths to avoid loneliness, like getting into or staying in relationships that they don’t actually enjoy. Discover the role that loneliness might be playing in your infidelity situation. Dr. Marie Murphy is discussing how to see whether you’re engaging in or continuing a relationship you aren’t actually excited about in order to avoid the feeling of loneliness, the beliefs that cultivate a fear of loneliness, and how to deal with loneliness in a way that doesn’t create undesirable consequences. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/140

May 4, 2023 • 24min
139. Comparing Your Spouse to Your Affair Partner
Comparison is a normal human behavior, especially if you’re romantically involved with multiple people. There is a time and place to make comparisons, but are the comparisons you’re making between your spouse and your affair partner (or between any two people in your life) helping you in any discernable way? Discover the problem with comparing your spouse to your affair partner. Dr. Marie Murphy is discussing why making comparisons doesn’t make decisions easier, how to see where you’re stuck in an unhelpful and ineffective comparison loop, and 3 simple tips for doing things differently if comparing your romantic partners isn’t helping you make a decision about your infidelity situation. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/139

Apr 27, 2023 • 45min
138. Telling a New Partner About Your History with Infidelity
You get to decide what you share about yourself with other people. If you’re considering telling a new partner about your history with infidelity, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Dr. Marie Murphy is discussing the work you need to do with yourself before you start disclosing your past infidelity to someone you’re dating, and how to see the end of a past relationship as something other than an indication that you’re horribly flawed as a human. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/138

6 snips
Apr 20, 2023 • 34min
137. If You Don’t Feel Guilty About Cheating
Discover how to deal with the idea that there’s something wrong with you because you don’t feel guilty about cheating. Dr. Marie Murphy is discussing why you always have the option of changing what you think a particular behavior means, and why guilt isn’t an effective motivator for doing something about your infidelity situation. She’s sharing an exercise to start clarifying your thoughts and feelings about your cheating so you can decide how you want to deal with your situation. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/137

Apr 13, 2023 • 32min
136. If You’ve Been Stuck in Your Infidelity Situation for a While
When you’re feeling stuck in your infidelity situation, it’s easy to think that the situation is out of your hands and change is becoming increasingly more difficult. What you need is a little tough love so you can see that no matter how long it’s been going on, you are not stuck and you do have the ability to resolve your infidelity situation. Discover what to do if you’ve been stuck in your infidelity situation for a long time and you feel like you’ve already tried everything to resolve it. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/136

Apr 6, 2023 • 40min
135. When Your Infidelity Situation is Brand New
No matter how your infidelity situation began, when you decide that whatever you’ve been doing counts as infidelity or cheating, that moment feels like a pretty big deal. You may be totally freaked out, and you may even consider yourself an objectively bad person. The topic of what to do right away when you realize that you are most definitely engaging in infidelity is of the utmost importance. Dr. Marie Murphy is sharing how to stop yourself from freaking out at this moment so you can handle your infidelity situation in a way that feels right for you in the long term. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/135

Mar 30, 2023 • 27min
134. Cheating in Open Relationships
Discover the options available to you if your partner has decided you’ve cheated in your open relationship. Dr. Marie Murphy is discussing both sides of the argument, sharing how to empathize with your partner if their view of your open-relationship agreement is different to yours, and she’s laying out how you can move forward together if you decide you want to. Get full show notes and more information here: https://mariemurphyphd.com/134