Would be good to get some other members input too, ones with experiences with different kinds of therapists. Archipelago's one. I think s/he does therapy with a person who is both a psychiatrist and also a psychoanalyst (or does psychoanalysis). Yet the way Archipelago describes this person it seems they are quite chummy, which does not make sense to me. Both psychoanalysis and psychiatry seem more distant. Perhaps the therapist here is also a humanist, I don't know. Or maybe more lax boundaries and closeness comes from years they've been together. Though as far as I know, many therapists don't change their boundaries just based on long time knowing somebody. In other words, boundaries for them are not personal, more like based on their profession or approach.