A friend or family member is not professionally trained to help you grow, heal and change. It’s likely that your friends and family have been giving you their best advice for some time now, and if it were sufficient, you probably wouldn’t be reading this. But here is why your friend’s advice is different from a therapist. Your friends want to maintain your friendship so they will probably tell you what they want to hear. Also, they will give advice that is based on their life’s experience. A trained therapist is interested in helping you find your own answers by helping you connect with what is true and right for you.