Best Books on Rebuilding Trust in a Relationship of 2021: Complete Reviews With Comparisons
Every relationship is unique and subjected to varying times of highs and lows.
Undoubtedly, the one thing that can keep it going is mutual trust that needs to be earned and kept unbroken to harbor security among couples.
But what happens when trust gets broken?
It is never easy to trust someone and start again, but it is still possible.
If you strive to rebuild trust in your relationship, you can check the best books on rebuilding trust in a relationship.
These can help you ease yourself into overcoming trust issues and trusting again.
Best Books on Rebuilding Trust in a Relationship
1. I Love You But I Don't Trust You: The Complete Guide to Restoring Trust in Your Relationship
A Books for a Better Life award's two-time finalist, Mira Kirshenbaum, a couples therapist, wrote this book.
It is translated into 20 languages and has become a popular pick for readers trying to trust again.
Review
While some see breaking one's trust as a non-negotiable factor in the relationship, some still believe in mending it.
I Love You But I Don't Trust You is made for those who believe in trying again for love.
A lack of trust may strain a relationship, regardless of how big or little the betrayal may have been.
Sometimes, people lack trust because of their previous experiences too.
Irrespective of how the trust was broken in the relationship, this book will teach you steps to rebuild it.
Additionally, Kirshenbaum aids the reader in understanding how to develop trust after the process of strengthening begins to take place.
Readers can learn how to avoid the mistakes in the past and understand how it prevents them from healing and reconnecting with others.
When someone betrays you, reading this book gives you a good starting point.
It supports restoring trust but also tells you when it is time to stop.
This not only works for individuals going through betrayals but for couples too.
If they get stuck in the middle of the healing process, it can be a valuable tool to assist them later down the road.
Several readers have also commented on the author's calming, reassuring, and casual tone.
PROS
CONS
2. Daring to Trust: Opening Ourselves to Real Love and Intimacy
According to psychologist David Richo, the root of most relationship troubles is a lack of trust, both in ourselves and in our partner.
This is regardless of whether we are afraid of commitment, insecure, jealous, or have a propensity to be controlling.
Using activities and insights from Daring to Trust, readers can explore and address their trust difficulties in relationships.
Review
Daring to Trust by David Richo tackles the relationship between trust and its translations.
This is good for those who want to understand the difference between adult, healthy, and naive trust.
Daring to Trust focuses on how trust evolves and develops in childhood.
It also tackles how it becomes a necessary element in good adult relationships and one’s emotional life.
It provides essential insights and hands-on exercises for examining and resolving trust difficulties in personal interactions.
Moreover, it helps one understand what the fear of trusting means and where it comes from.
It also emphasizes that strengthening the bond with the people we love requires a declaration of our history of trust.
Nevertheless, the openness with which we place our trust reveals our inner self.
It is through this that we learn and develop trust in all forms.
In the end, Richo says, we must learn to have faith in four different directions.
This is in ourselves, in others, in life itself, and a higher force or spiritual path.
In addition to good relationships, these four forms of trust are the cornerstones of freedom and emotional well-being from anxiety.
The good point of this book is that it touches on how you can break and earn trust back.
It teaches one to learn the approach of learning to trust again by starting within.
It also explains how to trust others by working on how we trust ourselves.
PROS
CONS
3. Worthy of Her Trust: What You Need to Do to Rebuild Sexual Integrity and Win Her Back
This book features Jason Martinkus' personal experience, biblical ideas, and Stephen Arterburn's real-world counseling guidance.
It offers a fresh look at what it takes to reestablish trust after a pornography addiction or sexual betrayal.
Review
Worthy of Her Trust not only caters to men who have broken the trust of the love of their lives.
Though it may seem dedicated to men, reading through its lines can also console and validate women.
It offers encouragement for women who have lost their hope in reconciliation and recovery.
This book can also cater to couples who are okay with putting in efforts to mend the relationship together.
This has brutally honest scenarios that reflect situations couples go through.
Hence, this has served as a stepping stone for those who have lost trust along the way.
Worthy of Her Trust is also a book for men struggling with sexual immorality in marriage.
It shows the phases men go through the moment they break the relationship.
Whether it's porn or adultery, Stephen Arterburn and Jason Martinkus help the reader correctly identify the problem.
This book is for learning responsibility and openness as well as showing integrity and honesty.
Men can learn practical, biblically-based counsel on establishing integrity, commitment, and accountability.
It is about making genuine reparation and asking for forgiveness.
This features a methodological approach on how to develop better practices to earn back trust.
It involves the concept of being completely transparent and willing to do trust-building strategies.
In a nutshell, the cycle ends with creating a vision of forgiveness and reconciliation for the future.
PROS
CONS
4. The Trust Factor: How to Rebuild Trust in Your Marriage
The Trust Factor is a book written by a couple married for 24 years.
Tony and Alisa Dilorenzo share how trust has been broken and rebuilt throughout their time together.
Their story has made the book popular among couples who want to rebuild trust in their relationships.
Review
The Trust Factor is created mainly for couples who are trying to build something beautiful from a trainwreck.
You will read about scenarios that may ring a bell, such as pornography addiction, debts, child loss, and poor communication.
You can learn insights from the couple's journey of overcoming all these together.
The approach of this book is ideal for couples with unresolved pain.
It is created for those who are lacking in sexual and emotional connection.
The authors also discuss and acknowledge the emotional roller coaster couples go through after breaking the trust.
When you read The Trust Factor, you learn how trust breaks and why it happens.
Couples can understand how they hurt each other and how they can get over it.
They find out ways to take themselves out of the emotional roller coaster and truly heal.
Reading the book can be a good start if you are looking for practical exercises that you and your spouse can do.
The insights and learnings you get from this book go beyond the band-aid approach.
It entails marriage-changing lessons that lead you to a more profound and proper healing process.
Ultimately, The Trust Factor is a book that encourages effort from both partners.
It emphasizes the wonders of wanting to take action.
A lesson from the book explains how feelings change and how trust gets rebuilt through taking action.
PROS
CONS
5. How Can I Ever Trust You Again? Infidelity: From Discovery to Recovery in Seven Steps
Discovering that your lover is having an affair is one of life's most painful experiences.
Andrew G. Marshall provides counsel and support as he discusses couples' steps, from discovery to healing.
That is whether you were the one who found out the affair or you were the one who cheated.
Review
If you are someone who still cannot believe your partner has betrayed you, this book is for you.
The pain and trauma brought about by discovery can leave you traumatized.
Coping with anger and pain can be challenging as you go.
However, this doesn't mean you are alone. Andrew's How Can I Ever Trust You Again? makes the process bearable.
It gives guidance to those who are on the same path.
Andrew presents seven stages couples go through from the moment they discover it up to recovery
The aspects that make a person vulnerable to affairs are discussed, along with the eight types of infidelity.
Understanding this gives the reader an idea of whether to stay or leave the relationship.
It is also a good book for those who want to learn how to avoid a meltdown from unruly thoughts.
It also has exercises to help anyone overcome the shock from the pain.
The book also talks of why couples successfully rebuild trust in the relationship and why others are not.
In a nutshell, the book teaches its readers that any type of crisis can be overcome and turned around.
So if you are trying to find answers or guidance in recovering from a betrayal, make sure to check this book out.
You will surely get insights that can make your path to recovery easier.
PROS
CONS
Which Among the Choices Should You Pick?
Relationships require trust to last. As much as people try to make sure it doesn't get broken, moments of vulnerability can come.
Thankfully, the best books on rebuilding trust in a relationship can help.
After carefully reviewing each one, the book Worthy of Her Trust takes the win.
It informs, guides, and consoles both parties, as well as addresses most issues.
Another good book is Daring to Trust because of the concepts that help trace factors causing trust issues.
Though not as helpful for new relationships, it still has excellent personal growth and trust rebuilding insights.