Should she stay or should she go?
TMZ reports Tuesday that Elin Nordegren has returned to her Windermere, Fla. home. Keeping her company: twin sister Josefin and their mother Barbro Holmberg (who was in and out of the hospital Tuesday morning due to apparent stomach pains). Elin's embattled husband Tiger Woods, meanwhile, is reportedly "nowhere in sight."
As the list of 33 year-old Woods' alleged mistresses — and shocking stories — grows daily, many are urging Nordegren, 29, to divorce her billionaire golfer husband of 5 years. The couple has two children: daughter Sam, two, and son Charlie, 10 months.
Usmagazine.com spoke to several experts about Elin Nordegren's potential next steps. None of them advised the wife and mother to immediately pack her things and leave with the kids.
Dr. Michelle Callahan, psychologist, host of Fox TV's recent reality show Wedlock or Deadlock and author of Ms.Typed:
"The situation is very heightened right now; nobody usually has to make this kind of an important decision under the direct pressure of literally the whole world talking about you. She might want to wait how much farther this story really plays itself out before she starts to make her move…It's important for her to protect herself emotionally. I'm sure her friends are in her ears, her family's in her ears. And I'm sure she has Tiger trying to tell her what he thinks she should do. She really needs some space to hear her own voice and understand whether or not this is something she wants to be a part of."
Ruth Houston, infidelity expert, author of Is He Cheating On You: 822 Tell-tale Signs:
"It looks very much like Tiger Woods may be a sex addict. If he is, then she may want to hang in there with him and help him get treatment. You need to have several conversations with the cheater in order to make an intelligent decision about whether to go or to stay. She needs to find out exactly what the truth is. And he needs to level with her and be honest. If he is emotionally attached to one of these women who claim to be involved with him, then that presents an entirely different situation. But she won't know that without discussing the situation with him. We're not excusing the infidelity at all — it comes down to a personal choice. It's more difficult for a person who's a sex addict, but it still boils down to one little word with two letters in it: No. Two letters, one syllable, easy to pronounce. It has nothing to do with anything she did or didn't do."
Dr. David Schnarch, psychologist, sex and marital therapist, author of Intimacy & Desire: Awaken the Passion in Your Relationship:
"She's going to have to realize that there's a big hole in her radar, and that she has not been able to see her husband accurately. This is the time where people not only renegotiate their prenuptial agreements — they also renegotiate the balance in their relationship. This is also where we'll get to see Elin's stripes. If she's a trophy wife, she stays and she beats Tiger to death with his affairs for the rest of his life. If she is one of these people who may have married money and status but really wants to have a family life, now is where you make that move for yourself … Tiger's going to be saying that he violated the values, but the real question here is, what are his real values? Elin is in a very common position for women who have married to wealthy guys: the rest of the world is telling you and telling Tiger that he walks on water, that he can do no wrong… Elin's job is to take the air out of his head, get his feet on the ground and hold him responsible for keeping up to his end of the marriage and the family."
