[AgentOrange]

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Jessica Simpson says the relentless gossip about her marriage to Nick Lachey drove her to visit a therapist.

"Yes I have," the singer-actress tells Teen People in its December-January issue, on newsstands Friday. "I respect knowledge of the psyche. I would be a therapist if I weren't an entertainer."

"Hopefully mine and Nick's story will continue for the rest of our lives, like what we vowed, through sickness and in health."

While lil sis Ashlee adds

"Yeah I messed up in front of everybody," she says. (Last month, Ashlee revisited the scene of her musical flub, performing on "SNL" — really live, this time.)

However, she adds: "I love to sing. It's a joy to me. I don't do it for anyone else — I do it for me.

"I've had to learn that my voice is the most important one. Otherwise, I'll drown in what everyone wants me to be."

and that ain't just lip service.