I do think I got sort of fooled by my former marriage counselor's therapist persona, where he was very caring and accepting and forgiving. And then during our final rupture, it was like I saw this completely different side of him, which I imagine was maybe his outside self coming in. And it was particularly difficult for me, because I had a different image of who he was.

With the T I have now, he has said that who he is in session is very similar to how he is in his outside life. And I believe that. He can be rather blunt, even harsh at times. He's not warm and fuzzy (like ex-MC was). He lets me know if something I do bothers or frustrates him. I struggled with this for the first year or two with him. But now I realize it's ultimately better that he's "real" and honest with me.