Yes, there is obviously a wound that needs mending, but as I'm sure the professional helping you out has told you, that mending needs to happen on your own end. You cannot control how another person acts towards you, or even if they want anything to do with you. However, what you can control on your end are the lessons you take away from past events, and how you move forward. I'm glad that you're getting help, and I wish you the best with it.
Yes and no. "Personal responsibility" is all well and good, but... well, let's just say sometimes it's easier to exert pressure on outside actors than it is to make changes to ourselves.
[tangent]
I am reminded of some of the recent political maneuverings by Putin regarding the USA and the Snowden leaks... some people tried to claim it was a case of "the pot calling the kettle black", but that doesn't change the fact that the kettle is black. Although the general sentiment in the USA seems to be pro-Snowden, anti-surveillance, the executive and the legislature simply doesn't seem to give a damn what the people think... whereas outside pressure might actually have a chance to work.
[/tangent]
Contrary to what you seem to expect, my psychiatrist approves of the steps I've been taking. This is not because he is incompetent or unethical, nor is it because he has not been given a proper impression of the situation. Not only are none of these propositions the reasons for his approval, but furthermore none of them are true. Rather, he recognizes that succeeding at the goal I've set for myself would be good for me; that attempting it is not particularly harmful to others, nor "enabling" of harm to myself; that I've demonstrated a dedication to pursuing this endeavor in as ethical a manner as possible, and recognized ethical paradoxes when "as ethical a manner as possible" hasn't been trivial to determine.
Silly aside: something that contributed to the severity of this problem, I think, is being asked at a résumé-building workshop, to set goals for what I wanted to do with my life. Most people think of stupid things like "I want to be CEO of my own company" or "I want to retire to a beach home in Tahiti"... but me? No, maybe it was because I was in a down mood at the time, but I put down the things that actually matter in the world: first "world peace", then "government and corporate transparency and accountability"... and
then finally something for myself, "having my female friends from high school back". And with the addition of "getting this damned Character/Physics Happy Fun Time system to finally work", that's basically been my birthday and xmas wishlist for the past 4 years, too.
Point is, sentiments to the effect of:
| Résumé-building workshop: | | What do you want? |
| Me, today: | | Never ask that question. |
Just what about that aside was "silly", you ask? The fact that I spent this much time writing it up just because of a tiny exchange of dialog I was reminded of from a decade-old space-opera TV series I never even watched. 
Edit: Apparently Scotty said something too, which I missed. IIRC I've made a refutation of those points in the past (too tired and cba to go dig it up though). If you think you can convince me how my refutation was wrong, be my guest, but there's no sense repeating an argument which AFAIAC has already been refuted.
@all: I was comfortable sharing my little "I said some stupid stuff to mediator guy, and now I may have wrecked my chances; pity me in my failure" story, but maybe I should've kept my explanatory replies to PM. At this point I'm once again inclined to just not tell you guys anything.
