NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has acknowledged infidelity to his wife in an internal letter, surfacing a public conversation on the professional and psychological management of marital betrayal.
Consulting psychologist Lin Tsui-fen, author of From Extramarital Affairs: Healing Trauma and Rebuilding Trust, says that betrayed partners frequently seek stability through immediate, high-impact actions. These responses often include demanding the transfer of property titles, initiating divorce proceedings, or filing lawsuits against the third party for “infringement of spousal rights”.
Many clients have done these three things before coming to counseling. They might feel better for a while after doing them, but later they discover that their emotions have not subsided, and they are still trapped in a chasm of pain.
According to Lin, these maneuvers are driven by a need for justice or a restoration of balance, yet they rarely provide lasting relief.
She explains that the emotions following an affair possess specific characteristics: they are autonomous and cannot be forced away; they are relative, shifting based on a partner’s willingness to accept and compensate for the hurt; and they are subject to a diminishing property, where intensity fades over time unless the trauma is continuously triggered.
For couples who choose to stay together, Lin advises moving beyond reactive measures toward a collaborative structure. She recommends that both parties draft a trust-building list.
If they choose to continue the relationship, both sides should list items that can enhance trust.
This process involves the injured partner specifying concrete actions, such as sharing travel itineraries, granting access to mobile devices, or committing to disclose any contact from the third party. Lin says the partner who committed the infidelity must realistically evaluate whether they can fulfill these commitments to avoid further damaging the relationship. Documenting these efforts allows the injured party to observe the progress of reconciliation as expectations are met.
