My sister has been in a fairly crap relationship for the last 4.5 years (on and off). There's no point going into the details, let's just say, he is an arse and she has clearly had very low self esteem to put up with his shite for so long. She also had a very tough time with her exH.
They are both as bad as each other in some respects and she has generally accepted that there is no future and she needs to move on.
All her family and friends can't stand him due to the lack of care and respect he has shown her over the last few years. Although now she seems to have seen the light, he has become the perfect gentleman.
So she has been seeing a therapist to talk about why she ended up in this relationship. But has been seeing the BF all the while, even going on romantic weekends away with him (she is away with him now).
None of my business, but she is lying to my parents about where she is and as a woman in my thirties I'm pretty pissed off about being put in the middle and having to be all covert like when we were teenagers just because she can't cope with disapproval.
She says she is carrying on like this until she is ready to pull the plug permanently. At the moment she doesn't feel like she can face the pain of a breakup. She says her counsellor has told her it's ok to do this if this is what she wants.
Is this really advisable, to remain in a relationship you know has no future? Surely going on romantic weekends and spending quality time "just having fun" is just going to make it worse and confuse matters. Is this really what a counsellor would advise?