I looked up the article on the ambush hug and it was kind of offputting. I think it was written for a therapist audience, so they would probably be more diplomatic if they meant it for patient ears. Also, the article (actually a blog) referred to a hug as being inappropriate. The writer is in Australia, and I understand there are prohibitions against hugs there, from what our Aussie members have written before, so maybe that partly accounts for the tone of the article. By the way, the article lists options A, B, and C for what therapists should do when the patient is ambushing them, and sometimes my T and I do option B (a sideways hug)! (Although I don't ambush him or really even initiate hugs by myself.) I think of the sideways hugs as "lighter" (hugs of reassurance, encouragement or affection) whereas the front to front hugs as being "deeper" and we put more of ourselves into them. I think calling the hug an "ambush" kind of implies it is unwanted--that if they had only had warning, they could have avoided or resisted it. I guess maybe that is how some therapists feel.

I bet your T handled the hug just fine. You cared about her health and were worried, so you treated her as if you and she were human beings. You offered her comfort! It is a totally human impulse to do that. If your T is going to tell you her health issues, she's got to expect you to care and to react like a human. Once my T was quite emotional about something, and I really understood completely, and I reached over and took his hand, and held it for just a moment and gave it a squeeze. He didn't seem to have a problem with this--I was just doing what many humans would do. SAWE, if you're worried the hug was a problem, you could talk with your T about it (not at the top of your list, I'm sure!). Or perhaps be more cautious next time and try to read her body language to make sure she is reciprocating the impulse for a hug. When my T first hugged me, he would always ask ("share a hug?"), which was very respectful and considerate. Now he usually doesn't say this. We just know each other well enough to know if a hug is going to happen. (We don't hug every time--only when it seems "right" and we both seem to know this.)

off topic, but interesting:
BTW, at the ambush hug blog, there are some other entries I found interesting. One was on CBT and studies that have been done showing it is the "B" part of the therapy, as well as the relationship, that really helps rather than the "C" part (telling clients their thinking is wrong). How funny that CBT is so hugely favored by insurance companies when the C may contribute little to efficacy.

Here is the blog site:
http://gandalwaven.typepad.com/intheroom/