AITA for not taking my friends' advice?
Recently, my friend of 10 years and I fell out. About 2 years ago, she earned her Master’s Degree in Psychology. I was genuinely happy for her, but ever since then, it feels like she brings her degree into almost every conversation we have. She tends to analyze my emotions, interpret situations through a therapist lens, and sometimes acts like her perspective should outweigh everyone else’s.
At one point, she even told me not to listen to my actual therapist because my therapist was “older” and didn’t know newer information. That immediately rubbed me the wrong way.
A month ago, I was out of state visiting family. She called to check on me, and I mentioned I’d spent time with older relatives who gave me some life advice. Out of nowhere, she assumed I was talking about forgiving my ex and getting back together with him. I never mentioned him, never said I wanted him back, and honestly don’t even feel like he “wasted my time.” We wanted different things in life and I learned a lot from that relationship.
She then asked why I would listen to my older cousin for relationship advice. I explained that I think it’s okay to hear different perspectives, especially from people with lived experience. My cousin is in his 60s and has been married and divorced twice. I wasn’t saying he was automatically right, just that his experiences were worth hearing out.
That’s when the conversation spiraled.
She became upset and said that because she’s licensed, she would know more about relationships than he would. I told her that her education absolutely has value, but experience has value too. She immediately accused me of invalidating her degree and “reducing it to nothing,” which honestly confused me because that wasn’t what I was saying at all.
I tried explaining that I wasn’t attacking her or dismissing her education. I just believed both education and lived experience can coexist. She then said I wasn’t taking accountability for her feelings.
At that point, the conversation was getting heated and going nowhere, so I cut in and told her to reel it in and actually listen to what I was saying instead of putting words in my mouth. After that, she got quiet and started crying. I told her I’d call her later, but we haven’t spoken since.
A few days later, when I was going to reach out, I noticed she had removed me from our shared book club group chat.
AITAH for not taking her advice and for how I handled the conversation?