I found the hard approach backfired horribly in my case. When I used the softer, more kind approach I got the results I wanted. Of course I ended up falling back on the hard approach recently and my WH went from considering staying vs. leaving to straight up wanting to file for divorce on his own.
M 10yrs T 13yrs BD #1Oct 2015-PA between WAH and COW BD #2 April 2016-WH resumed PA, she broke it off Jan 2 2017 WH says he wants divorce April '17-Letting go 2018 D busted DD8, DS6, DS3