Oct 24, 2014 5 min read

Q. I am Protestant, and my husband was baptized in the Catholic church, but religion was never important to him or his family. Neither of us has converted, nor will we. My husband has attended services with me, and I have attended the occasional holiday Mass with my in-laws. I respect their faith.

Here’s the problem: My mother-in-law apparently thought I would convert as soon as I joined the family. This has been a huge problem for her. Because I respect her faith, I have tried to follow the rules while at Mass, and that means I do not take communion. This bothers my mother-in-law to no end. She finds it offensive.

There is likely to be a Catholic funeral that I will have to attend soon. I do not want to create a scene or cause my mother-in-law more unhappiness, but I also do not wish to offend the rest of the family or the church by deliberately ignoring the prohibition to take communion. How do I proceed? – Trying To Be Respectful

A. We think your mother-in-law’s problem is that she still wants you to convert, and acting offended because you do not take communion is how she expresses it. It might help if her priest discusses this with her directly. Please make an appointment to talk to him. But it might also be useful for your husband to make it abundantly clear to his mother that conversion is not going to happen and she needs to back off before she alienates both of you.

Dear Annie: I am responding to the letter from “L.,” who asked what happens in counseling.

The only licensed individual who can prescribe medication is a psychiatrist who is an MD with a specialty in psychiatry. There has been legislation in the state of Florida to allow licensed psychologists the authority to write prescriptions, but that has not yet been passed into law.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts are the same thing, but psychoanalysts practice a very specific type of intervention. A licensed clinical social worker can use the title “psychotherapist,” as can any licensed psychologist. Any of these individuals can also call themselves counselors. If you practice counseling, but do not have a degree or license, you can call yourself a “life coach.” This is an unregulated field, but many of them do the same thing as counselors. – Florida State University

Dear Florida: Several readers responded to this letter, many asking why we didn’t mention their particular specialty. We wish we could have listed all of them, but there simply wasn’t space. Read on for more:

From California: I am a licensed marriage and family (LMFT) therapist and have been since 1975 and was deeply disappointed that LMFTs were omitted from your list of counseling resources.

Oregon: While we have licensed clinical social workers and psychologists, we also have licensed marriage and family therapists — all of which are considered counselors/therapists/psychotherapists. Psychiatrists are medical doctors with a specialty in psychiatric medications. On the West Coast, they are not referred to as therapists, but as psychiatrists.

Illinois: Mental health nurse practitioners can also prescribe medications.

Dear Annie: I was disappointed in your response to “To Tip or Not To Tip,” saying that wedding DJs and photographers who own their own businesses don’t expect to be tipped. That is not true.

I am married to a man who has been a DJ for 40 years. He has many extra expenses. A week before the wedding, they make sure all the music is in order, and they do a lot of recording and cover the expenses associated with that. They arrive at least an hour before the wedding to get everything set up and run the whole wedding reception to keep things on time. The guests probably won’t remember your decorations or the food, but if they don’t like the DJ, they will go home.

When you tip your DJ, it tells him he did a good job and you are pleased with his work. It’s no different from tipping a beautician who owns her own shop. She still expects a tip. – Omaha DJ’s Wife

Dear Omaha: We understand that you want to support your husband, but those who own their businesses (including beauticians) should not expect tips when performing services. The fact that some people choose to tip anyway is fine and undoubtedly appreciated, but it is not required.

Email questions to anniesmailbox@comcast.net, or write to: Annie’s Mailbox, c/o Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254