I admit I've struggled with this a bit too, particularly with marriage counselor and H. Like if I'm crying in the middle of session, MC often will be trying to calm me down (using his voice and body language--no touch or anything) while H is just sitting there, looking at me. And that's how it usually is when I'm upset at home, too. So it felt like MC cared more about me being upset than H. But that's also just in those 50 minutes a week (and occasionally on phone/text/e-mail). And he's trained to show his caring outwardly--H cares but just isn't good at showing it. Plus H is there dealing with me all the time.

The thing with a therapist is that it's a one-way relationship. They care about and put their full attention on their clients. And don't expect that attention back. So...just out of curiosity, are you trying to show your family lots of attention and caring? Because I know that's one thing with my H, I expect all this caring from him, but then there is other stuff he's looking for from me (not the same as what I'm looking for from him--referring to stuff like keeping house clean, appreciating him, etc.). So I guess make sure you're also trying to meet your family's needs? Again, I struggle with this some, too, so this is not me being critical at all. Just giving you something to think about. If you're there for them all the time and not getting anything back, then yeah...that's on them for sure. Hugs...