"You still need to find a life partner. But it's not like you can buy one at the market, some people do that and it only leads to trouble."

Oh--My--God!!

If s/he had said anything like that near me s/he would have been lucky if I had only gone with the 'beating to death with a bloody shovel' approach!! I'm stunned that a 'professional' is allowed to spout cr*p like that. Maybe s/he's just bought into the Hallmark holiday a bit too much?!

Yes, I agree life can be great if you're sharing it with someone lovely. But if you're not in a place where you're doing the sharing, it doesn't stop you from being a whole, well-rounded person. You shouldn't compromise just for the sake of being in a couple. Being part of a couple does not make you more valid as a person and your life is not necessarily better just because there's someone else in it. Surely implying that you 'need' a 'life partner' is a really inappropriate position for a shrink to take? It also suggests that the shrink has low self esteem issues themselves if they attach such importance to relationships.

Ok, so that may have come across as a bit of a 'bitter single' rant, but what the hell! I'm fed up of coming across the assumption/prejudice that 'couple' is better than 'single' and that somehow if you're single you don't quite count as much as you would if you weren't.

Rant over. Balance restored. I'll now go back to my knitting and cats.

He's an arse with extremely old fashioned views. When I told him sis lived nearby with the kids he assumed she was married. He assumed that any future life partner of mine would be male, and he actually said today that since I was living alone I shouldn't be having financial issues because what would I spend my money on? He made out that he was joking, but I think that's because he saw the potential murder in my eyes...

I am only keeping the appointments with him (six monthly apparently) so that I can keep my meds going. Which is a terrible reason really!

Your shrink is a horse's ass!

Remind me to tell you about the time my shrink wondered why I was upset about being raped...


Gabrielle