The short answer is yes, unless you take fiction for what it is-fiction. When you long for something you don't have, it can lead to dissatisfaction with what you DO have. Romantic fiction has witty, heartfelt dialogue, buckets of romantic gestures, and protagonists who have a preternatural ability to read each other's minds. It's easy to forget it is not real. This can set up unrealistic expectations both conscious and unconscious.
Usually people approach couples therapy as a last resort to salvage their relationship that has been deteriorating for 2 to 3 years, according to research. 1 Yet, many leave without tangible results. While the therapist you've chosen might not be a good fit, there might also be things that aren't about the therapist, their treatment approach, or their experience, so you can influence them to make therapy more successful and efficient.
During Pastor Appreciation Month, we include our gratitude for the support of the pastor's wife. Spiritual spouses are viewed differently than their faith-leading husbands. Although there are plenty of benefits, both emotional and spiritual, of serving within the leadership of a faith community, there are challenges as well. A pastor's wife is expected to be kind, compassionate, sympathetic, supportive, patient, gracious, long-suffering, and the list goes on. She is required to be, in a word: perfect. Yet this unrealistic expectation can be tempered through realistic strategies of coping and support.