thank you for your kind words. I have to tell you, it really was that: the emsw and rick. they both caused me to see things from another perspective. i had just been listening to myself and my own rationalization and when i had to listen to them and they knew more than i did and they were able to get inside my dysfunction, it was then that i started to see past it all. as i heard from them, then i P R O C E S S ED, it was like a slow moving river ya know? it just started building and building. it took time but it took the right information to start the process of me learning to focus on what Samantha was dealing with and what Samantha was experiencing....until that season, i was angry, bitter, defensive and just confused. so when i found the right help, it cracked me open. Yet, I still had to utilize the help and put into practice the information and see rick about once every two or three weeks at the time. we'd have seen him more but couldn't afford every week sessions for both of us. but truly, between him and the emsw, and reading love and respect by emmerson eggerichs, it helped me really go deeper into understanding what Samantha needed. there is no button friend. there's about 10 of them and any one of them can be pushed at any time and no one knows the perfect recipe for success. that's partly what it's about. pushing the RIGHT buttons in each of you to bring about the right response over time. you can't avoid time's quotient in all of this. the right button(s) over the right amount of time. hope that helps you???!!!!!!!