Learning to Trust Myself

[Burgbud]

Or is he mostly just concerned with the idea that they are going to try to talk me into doing whatever makes me happy, even if that means divorce?

Based on what's gone on so far and on my own experience, I would guess this is the case, though he certainly wants your parents acceptance as well. But I was always very anxious when W was around someone who I thought would encourage her to leave me. A lot of times this focused on her email buddies, because I felt like anybody who actually met me or was around me would see both sides of our issues. Even so, I never really made the connection that if I wanted these people to be on the side of us staying together, I needed to give them reasons to do so.

As for the rest of your post, if you'll permit me a bit of jargon, I believe you've succinctly defined the problem domain. That's the best way to start tackling the problem!