My T said at the beginning of our time that she most likely would never say "I love you" to me. She only regularly does this with her husband and mom and doesn't even like saying it to her stepdaughter or anyone else. She would say that she had 'loving feelings' for me. I didn't so much like this, but I understood that this is what she felt comfortable with and I just knew that she loved me and this was what is important.

With time and intensity, however, this has evolved. She has said "I love you" to me a few times now. Our relationship is intense. We're doing long overdue work where she is parenting me and I am learning to let go of the belief that she--or anyone--can/will ever be my mom. I've told her the most embarrassing things about myself and she has each time looked me in the eye and given me comforting, compassionate looks to teach me about unconditional self-love. And she has never taken a step away from me, if anything she has gotten closer as I share more about myself. Her love and compassion for me--expressed and unexpressed--is teaching me to unconditionally love myself. So I agree with what Nightlight said about it being more than an average doctor-patient relationship.