Some degree of increased caution after being cheated on is reasonable. The person has evidence that trust can be violated, and adjusting expectations accordingly is not pathological. The line is crossed when the vigilance becomes constant, exhausting, and resistant to contrary evidence. Hypervigilance is not a choice to be careful. It is a state of chronic alarm that the person cannot exit. It corrodes the relationship from the inside because the partner eventually feels that no amount of honesty or transparency will ever be sufficient.
For adults in Boca Raton dealing with hypervigilance after infidelity, Dr. David Steinbok's psychodynamic approach provides a way to address the alarm system itself rather than trying to reassure it. A therapist for trust issues after being cheated on recognizes that reassurance does not reach the level where the hypervigilance operates. The therapeutic work goes deeper, examining the original injury and the nervous system's response to it.
