After infidelity, recovery and rebuilding the trust in a relationship is one of the biggest hurdles to leap in repairing the damage done. Why? Because many people who are trying to recover from affairs struggle with the fact that if their spouse betrayed them once they can do it again.

This is a very difficult dilemma that you'll need to come to terms with. On the one hand you probably want to forgive your spouse and move forward with rebuilding a better marriage, but how can you be sure that he or she is not going to cheat on you again. The truth of the matter is, that there's no way to be absolutely certain that your spouse won't commit another affair. However, there are some behavior patterns in your spouse that you should pay attention to as these might indicate whether your spouse is cheating again or is likely to cheat once more.

As with most affairs of the heart, they are no guarantees one way or the other. No one knows for certain that if your spouse exhibits a particular behavior, then that means that he is either having another affair or is likely to do so at some point in the future. However, you still need to have some way to gauge how safe your marriage is and whether or not it is worth the emotional investment to leave yourself open to further pain and suffering.

Has your cheating spouse offered a full and heartfelt apology?

A cheating spouse who isn't ready to come clean and and apologize from the heart or worse, has not apologized at all is probably not be ready to be fully committed to the marriage either.

Is the cheater being defensive and secretive or open and transparent?

After the affair, it's the cheating spouse's responsibility to be open and as transparent as possible in the relationship. If they are being secretive, lying and withholding information, odds are they may have something else going on.

Is your spouse a serial cheater?

If your spouse has cheated on you multiple times in the past, then it is much more probable that he will do so again in the future. It's up to you to decide what to do about your marriage then. On the other hand, if the affair was a one time thing and your spouse is genuinely remorseful for his actions, then he is much more likely to do what is necessary to repair his character flaw.

Every relationship has an element of risk involved. It's not possible to prevent someone from cheating since no one has control over another person's actions. But with the right help and guidance you can improve the odds that your marriage will not suffer from betrayal again. It is possible to recover from the pain and create a better marriage, making the risk of working through infidelity recovery well worth the time and effort.