Agreed, and I think you do have a point there. But what it seems OP (and others) are looking for is not a reciprocal "I love you" but a more casual response that simply demonstrates Ts caring and empathy. For instance, a T could say "Thank-you for sharing that with me. That's really special. I care about you too-- you're a great client to work with." I think that would be both compassionate and accurate, without giving a client any false hope that T loves them as "more" than a client. I think taking a cold and clinical approach can actually do damage to a client who has trouble expressing emotions, particularly if the client has had bad reactions in the past when expressing love to others. It just seems Ts are so used to handling certain thing "by the book" that they sometimes forget to be human or forget the human aspects of the therapy relationship.