b'organizations can help patients accessTakeaway: Your value in a relationship isnt nancial assistance, grants, and insuranceabout what you can nancially contribute. Love appeals.is about support, not economic productivity.Career reframing: Working with vocational4. The intermittent need for mobility aids rehab services can help identify exibleBut you were walking yesterday! employment options or self-employmentMS is unpredictable. Some days, walking is paths that align with MS needs.easy. Other days, mobility aids are necessary.Cognitive reframing: Many people internalizeSocietystruggleswiththisinconsistency, nancial hardship as personal failure. Therapyleading to skepticism, accusations of faking, helps replace guilt with self-compassionand internalized ableism. Many people withreminding clients that the system, notMS resist using aids out of fear of judgment their choices, is to blame.Psychological and practical solutions. Takeaway: You are not a nancial burden. Cognitivereprocessing:Therapyhelps You are navigating an unfair system. Askingdismantletheideathatusingmobility for help is not weaknessits strategy.aids is giving up. Mobility equals freedom, 3. The marriage penaltynot failure. MS patients who rely on disability benets Settingboundarieswithskeptics:Not often lose crucial nancial and medical supporteveryone deserves an explanation. I use if they get married. This forces couples intowhat I need when I need it, is a complete unfairdecisionsstayingsingletokeepanswer. healthcare, nancially struggling together, or Community validation: Joining MS support divorcing on paper.groups can normalize uctuating disability Psychological and practical solutionsand provide affirmation from people whoNavigating legal loopholes: Some couplesunderstand. explore legal workarounds (such as nancialTakeaway: You dont have to justify your trusts) that allow marriage without losingneeds. Using an aid isnt giving upits taking benets. Consulting a disability attorneycontrol. is key.5. The problem with inspiration narrativesReframing partnership: Therapy can helpWe are not your feel-good story. couples redene commitment beyond legalPeople with MS are often called inspiring for structures, focusing on emotional securitysimply existing. While meant as a compliment, rather than government denitions.thisreducesdisabledpeopletoobjectsofCommunicating nancial realities: Manymotivation rather than treating them as equals. people with MS feel guilty about being aIt also pressures people to perform resilience nancial strain. Therapy helps partnersinstead of expressing real struggles. havehonest,shame-freeconversationsPsychological and practical solutions aboutmoney,expectations,andsharedBoundaries with well-meaning but harmful problem-solving.comments. (Id rather be seen as a personCoping with loss of autonomy: Financialthan an inspiration.) dependence can trigger frustration andChallenging toxic positivity: Clients learn helplessness.Therapybuildsself-worthto reject the expectation to always be strong that isnt tied to income.and allow space for real, complex emotions. 25 msfocusmagazine.org'