Someone tell me if this is too cynical: marriage is someone being on your side because they want to be, therapy is someone being on your side because you pay them to be.
@L_D_G
Makes perfect sense to me
@L_D_G Well, marriage is also a financial transaction, maybe that husband or wife is also paid to be on your side
@gemswinc ha, some marriages, certainly!
I'm thinking more in terms of which one has the longer legs. Marriage can simultaneously be the easiest and most difficult thing in the world.
Therapy on the other hand, if you have the means to pay (and getting that money doesn't suck!) is also tough, but safe as well and should leave you optimistic, even if it's only cautiously.
@L_D_G I have never been in therapy, so I can't judge
A good therapist will remain neutral, no predetermined agenda. They will want you to be the most fulfilled and happiest you can be with your life.
Friends and family will usually have an agenda, what they want the outcome to be. That’s why having a neutral therapist is valuable. They can see patterns from an outside perspective, that you may not recognize from the inside of your life.
@Keep_Real this. Particularly sentences two and three when your happiness may not be in the direction that they want.
@L_D_G pretty much