WIBTA if I stopped going to family therapy?
I wasn't the perfect father, but goddamn. The way my daughter (Alana, 26) talks about me in therapy, you'd think I'd never done anything good for her at all. I get it. I fucked up. But it's like I told the therapist when he asked me how my daughter's words made me feel: "I'm not trying to shift any blame, but my wife is right here and my daughter hasn't said one bad word about her this entire time. Is this goijg to be family therapy or bash Dad for an hour and forty-five minutes every week?"
He told me that, that uncomfortable feeling I felt and that frustration was how my daughter has been feeling for all these years. And I told him, "I get that, that's why I'm here, so we can all get past that and move forward. Forward. Not continuously going back to the past and talking about things that we can't change. What are some solutions moving forward?" And he said, "It starts with listening."
That was the first session. We're on session three. I've been listening and all I hear is a lot whole of "Daddy this" and "Daddy that" and I'm ready to call it quits and throw in the towel. I told my wife that she could go to the sessions without me from now on and she can listen to my daughter complain about me all they want because obviously if she hates me that much, it's better if I stay away.
My wife said that if I stopped going that would make me an AH because this isn't about me and that we're there to support our daughter in her healing process.
I said that was easy for her to say because she's not the one getting targeted every week and if this isn't about me (too) then this isn't family therapy and I should just remove myself if I'm the cause of all the problems.
I'm having doubts though because I did neglect our daughter a lot when she was little, and I do want a better relationship with her, but if I have to keep going through this? Fuck no.