I've been to T's in the past but will just talk about the most recent two (still seeing both--one an individual T, one a marriage counselor. Plus a p-doc, but this forum is about therapy).

I initially went to my T about 3.5 years ago for issues with anxiety and panic disorder that seemed to get worse after I had my daughter. My panic disorder was such that I was having at least a panic attack a day, tried to avoid riding in cars with people or on public transportation (was fine if I was driving myself), had trouble eating in front of people, and other situations, because they'd triggered panic attacks in the past. I was also having trouble with being a parent (I realize now that I also had postpartum depression), thinking that I wasn't doing a good enough job and should have seemed happier about having a 6-month-old.

What I've gotten from it has been a great deal of help with the panic disorder (I very rarely have panic attacks now--I'm on medication, but I think the therapy provided the biggest help on that) and am doing better with the generalized anxiety. I also feel better about being a mom, gaining more confidence as my daughter has gotten older (realized, too, that I'm not an "infant person" and do better when they get a bit older).

I've also ended up delving into some stuff from childhood and now have a better understanding of why I am the way I am. Recently came to realize, too, that maybe my childhood wasn't as happy as I made it out to be (anxiety and OCD issues were there, but my parents didn't understand them). And had a bit of maternal transference for T (hadn't had that with any previous T). Also ended up dealing with some issues in my marriage, which led to me (and my husband) seeing:

Marriage counselor (in same practice as T): Went to him at first because of some anger issues my husband had (seemed to come about from a loss he suffered). Wasn't too helpful in the beginning because, admittedly, neither H nor I were really being open about stuff. Took a break, then went back at my insistence because, as I eventually admitted in session, I feared I was no longer in love with my H (and maybe that I no longer even loved him)--had kinda pulled away due to anger stuff (which had gotten better). (I also may have had some feelings for a younger guy for a brief period.) MC was good at helping us through it, not taking sides, and pushing us more to be open and honest.

It sometimes ended up being like individual therapy with MC because many of my personal and psychological issues (as well as my H's) play into our marriage. His approach is rather different from T's, so it's getting a slightly different perspective. Over time, we've come to realize things like how fighting can be OK in a marriage (we like never fought before our daughter was born), how being parents can change a marriage and how to deal with it, ways to reconnect (which worked sometimes), and basically gained better understandings of each other and our respective needs.

However, with that, just in the past 6 months or so, has also come some erotic/romantic as well as paternal transference for MC on my part (having both types of transference is just as confusing as it sounds--and with some definitely painful moments). Exploring that with T, individually for a couple sessions with MC, and in joint session with my H with MC (awkward!) has been at times very embarrassing and at times very enlightening. It brought to the surface some attachment and abandonment issues from childhood (parents) and when I was a bit older (parents, exes, and friends) that I then explored with both T and MC, which was difficult and painful at times. Now I think I'm mostly on the other side of that (though still some transference there), with a better understanding of myself and feeling closer and more healthily attached to both T and MC. Marriage seems better, but don't feel like we're out of the woods yet.

OK, that was incredibly long, and I could go on even longer, but I'll end here. It was interesting to think about. Bottom line: I definitely think therapy with both T and MC have been beneficial, at least in understanding myself and in dealing better with both my immediate and extended family, and in handling the outside world. However, I definitely see how it can lead to attachment to T's--but I think as long as that becomes a healthy attachment, rather than, say, neediness or inability to function without them, it's OK. I think!