Hello psychstudent1989, welcome to Psych Central.

What you are talking about is called transference and is often a natural occurrence in therapy. Think about it this way, for the first time in your life you have someone that listens and cares and is helping you to find a way forward with your mental health issues. The thing is though, there is also a big power divide there and professional authorities recognise this and if a therapist reciprocates the 'love' in the wrong way they are then likely to be struck off. Now, it's not all bad news because a skilled therapist knows how to deal with transference issues in the right way and it can be used in the therapy process effectively. An unskilled therapist may cause damage.

As for your question about friendship after therapy has finished, well the laws and regulations are different for each profession and area. For example in the UK a registered clinical psychologist has to wait two years after therapy has finished. You would need to check with your therapist professional board on that one.

You might like to check out the Psychotherapy and the Romantic Feelings Toward My Therapist forums where you can get lots of advice and support from others in therapy.