I'm not intending to be contrary or in disagreement here, merely stating what my first thoughts were when I saw stopdog's ? about connection being different than attachment.
Connection as it's talked about here in this forum has a lot to do with a rapport, with validation, with experiencing unconditional positive regard, or with a meeting of the minds (intellectual understanding/rapport) and/or a meeting of the heart (emotional understanding/rapport). I don't think everyone experiences the meeting of the heart thingy, or feels that it is necessary to have an emotional experience/emotional intensity to feel a connection, but some do .....
However, I think of connection as a stepping stone toward attachment. I think I have a connection of sorts with many people to whom I don't really have what I consider an emotional attachment. I guess I consider attachment, for me, to be a deeper thing than just connection. I connect well with some moms in my MOPS (Mothers of Preschool Children) group, but that doesn't mean I'm attached to them - I don't have a close friendship with them outside of the group, just a comfortable acquaintance. I consider there to be connection, but not attachment in that. But when I do feel a deeper connection to someone, and that happens not so often, then that is when the door opens for me to become closer to them, more attached.
I think there can be effective communication between client and therapist, a sort of an intellectual connection, just meaning for them to be a source of info/counsel, without having a deeper attachment ....
The very first counselor I saw, a man, for about 4 months, I had a good connection with him, I was comfortable talking to him, I liked him, but I had no real attachment to him. I didn't think of him between sessions or dwell on sessions afterward, and when we mutually decided I had resolved my concerns, we ended ...... and it was easy to move on. I define that as not being attached, but I know there was connection, or he couldn't have been helpful to me.
How helpful or clear any of this is to anyone, I don't know ......