APSATS — Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model

Trauma, not codependency.

For years, the standard framework for understanding a betrayed partner's pain treated her as "codependent" or "co-addict" — as if she had somehow contributed to or enabled the betrayal. APSATS exists because that framework was wrong, and because someone with the research to prove it was willing to say so.

APSATS — the Association for Partners of Sex Addicts Trauma Specialists — grew out of the pioneering doctoral research of Dr. Barbara Steffens, whose mid-2000s work shifted the field toward understanding betrayed partners through a trauma lens rather than a codependency model. That research codified the Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model (MPTM) — and it fundamentally shapes how I work with betrayed partners today: leading with safety, validation, and trauma-informed pacing rather than assigning blame.

The MPTM centers nervous system safety and trauma-sensitive pacing above all else. It shapes how I approach pacing, safety, and structure across all of my coaching work — couples and individual alike. I'm an APSATS MPTM Trainee, consulting with APSATS-affiliated trainers as part of my ongoing training.