Therapy with the second one was not nearly as contentious. And I doubt she ever felt attacked (although once she said I damned her with faint praise) - I saw it more as I simply wanted to make sure I did not over-state the compliment.

I did not strike the first woman first, and I was fairly restrained in my dealings with the first, but she did not get free passes to mock me. Usually mine were in response to a question she had asked me about how I felt about her and I told her. She stopped asking so I stopped telling her. I think she was actually (as opposed to her usual over-acting) surprised the time she asked me if I thought she was kind and I said absolutely not. She seemed to think she was although I have no idea why she had that image of herself. Kind is absolutely not a description I ever would have used for her.