This topic has come up in several different ways and I've had a variety of responses. The latest one was to do exactly what was done here: give some alternatives by looking at Greek words for different types of love.

Now something else is coming up. I am now not so sure I understand why there is so much fuss about the word "love." I don't mean that in a dismissive way, but in a curious way. Like it is just a word. We use lots of words like "compassion," "caring," "empathy," and so on to describe the qualities that are valuable in relationships of an intimate nature, including that with a therapist. No one would argue that it is wrong or unprofessional or prostitution (being paid for feelings) to say that a therapist has the ability to feel compassion, caring and empathy. Quite the opposite. These are part of the job description. So why is "love" so off the map? I personally do not see that compassion, caring and empathy exclude love; rather they seem to stem from it. Whether we want to see this as love or not seems more about word choice, semantics, than actual content. Some people just have aversion to that particular word perhaps for very good reasons. Does it follow that the word should be avoided all together at all costs?

The whole thing about how there is money involved is really misleading. There is a contradiction set up by saying if money is involved, then nothing is legitimate or authentic. That is just false. There is no inherent contradiction.

And what we pay for is not necessarily expertise. I don't. In fact I find the whole idea that a therapist thinks they are an expert repugnant, arrogant, and counterproductive. It's a power trip that has no place in therapy for me and for lots of others, including many whole schools of therapy.

What the therapist quoted said about love is not an original personal idea. That is a view promoted by many figures in the history of psychology and psychotherapy. It's like a little sound bite common in the field. People may not choose to use that sound bite but there is nothing inherently weird or unusual about it. Maybe I'm just not getting it.