It used to have a large influence on me when I started therapy. I was looking for answers to my crazy feelings. I had to remind myself that my T. is NOT going to be like everyone else's.
The absolute best influence the forum has had is encouraging me to tell my T. everything. When I first had the transference, I didn't want to tell her. I would be months behind if not for everyone's encouraging posts.
I feel like I'm on the other side of transference now (momentarily, I'm sure LOL) so now I'm mainly on out of interest vs looking for answers. And, hopefully I can help the newbies!