In a conversation with my T recently we talked about this topic, if a therapist should tell their clients that they love them. I don't know exactly how it came up but her view on this is that she would never say "I love you" to a client. She signs her emails sometimes with "Love, T" but that's how far she goes. She asked me how it would make me feel if she did, and after thinking about it for a while I realized I wouldn't like it at all! We discussed it for a while and my gut feeling remained that it would be too close for me. It was interesting - she said it's a good assessment I have of myself and that I am at a great place with myself to be so clear. She says other clients tell her that they love her but she finds ways to reply to this in a sensitive but clear way. She says the fondness towards her client is very real, love however is not. I like my T a lot, I would even sometimes say that I love her - but in that kind of love I have for the baker at the grocery store who always smiles with that adorable gap between his teeth :-) But I would never say I love you to him and I would NEVER say that to my T.
So does your T tell you they love you? Do you want them to? Do you tell them?