During an intensive 3 months therapy in a psychiatry, one of the sessions aught for us was about assertive communication. Even back then, it appeared to me as a "Solution for a solved problem", as it only works when two people want to honestly communicate... In which case there is no need for it, but it doesn't work if even just one participant in a conversation is unwilling to play.

To this day i get furious to think I had to waste my time on that useless pile of crap, instead of getting cognitive therapy (which, during my current therapy, proved to be incredibly useful).

Is there anything more useless in the world of psychology and therapy than assertive communication? My experience is with getting treatment for catastrophization and checking OCD, i wonder if people with other illnesses and thus other treatments had something even more ridiculously meaningless time waste