I think different clients need different things. Some really don't want to know any details about their T's for some reason. I don't really get that, but I know some here have expressed that view.

Personally, that whole blank slate thing would be completely impersonal and cold. That's just not the way I work. I appreciate a bit of background, and when my T's share a few things here and there about their lives, that shows their humanness. My T has pictures of his family all around his office, lots of them (he a a big family). He shares anecdotes about his life in the course of discussing my issues, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, usually really informative and helpful in my own situation. I appreciate that and wouldn't have it any other way. I've never found it distracting or off topic, and he doesn't tell me these things to somehow get me to listen to his problems (that would certainly not be appropriate).