In a shared living situation, one therapist finds herself in a conflict with her housemate over the need for privacy during online therapy sessions.

With her housemate requesting that she leave the house during therapy, she struggles to balance her own work routine with the emotional needs of her housemate.

As the situation escalates, both sides grapple with boundaries, personal comfort, and the complexities of shared living arrangements.

Check it out.

AITA for refusing to leave the house when my housemate has therapy?

I’ve been going back and forth on this, so maybe you can help me, Reddit.

I recently moved in with a housemate and they asked me to leave the house while they have online therapy.

Their session is at 1pm, right in the middle of a day when I work freelance.

I am actually also a therapist, and I see clients out of the house from 3:30pm, which means I need to leave about 2:30pm.

I have a routine where I might go for a walk and do something out of the house in the morning, then relax at lunchtime before I see my clients.

Hey, a routine is a routine.

I’m someone who struggles with anxiety and I’ve found that my routine helps me to feel my best so I can show up for my clients.

I can find it quite anxiety provoking being out and about/in a coffee shop etc all day, so being at home for lunch helps me to be calm and grounded for my clients.

When my housemate asked me to leave the house for their session, I explained that this was my lunch break in my workday, and asked if there was a compromise we could make.

I agreed to stay in my room with headphones on while they have their therapy in the living room.

The next week, they said that they had left the house for their therapy session because even though I stayed upstairs and promised to wear headphones, it didn’t feel right energetically for them, and asked if we could talk about it again.

When I repeated that I felt like I needed my lunch break in the house to protect my energy and show up for my clients at work, they seemed upset and said that I should know how important therapy is.

Oof, that one hurt.

At this point I blew up (I do feel like a jerk for this part) and said that I shouldn’t have to leave my own home during a workday when I have a routine.

It seemed like they weren’t able to hear my feelings in this, only their own, and that it felt unreasonable to act this way in a shared house.

They asked if we could alternate with me going out one week and staying in the next. This was a couple of weeks ago and I said I would think about it.

I’ve thought about it, and I maintain that I don’t want to leave my own home during my lunch break on a busy workday.

I recognise that I’m bringing my own emotions into this, I had a hard time feeling safe growing up and now my home is my safe place, so being asked to leave is really triggering something in me.

This is a tough one.

I’m happy to make any compromises, and in my eyes giving them the living room while I stay upstairs feels pretty decent, but what do you think Reddit?

Am I the jerk for refusing to leave the house while my housemate has therapy?

While both parties recognize the importance of therapy, the clash of needs highlights the challenges of cohabitation and the delicate dance of compromise.

Reddit doesn’t think she is being the AH here.

This person says the whole house is not needed at all.

This person says that she tried, but it’s not her fault that she didn’t oblige.

And this person says this is all totally unreasonable.

When it comes to home, everyone deserves their sanctuary.

These two will have to compromise to keep the peace.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a guy who was forced to sleep on the couch at his wife’s family’s house, so he went to a hotel instead.