My initial response to my T's empathy in the early stages of therapy was anger, and a "what do you WANT from me?" kind of thing. Kindness came at such a cost to us growing up, stopdog, that it's no wonder you experience it as adversarial. With time, and repeated of occasions of him being kind and empathetic with no penalty or cost to me, I grew to trust that he did not have some ulterior motive and was legitimately trying to help me identify and articulate my feelings and heal.