I'm mainly trying to stir up a bit of discussion after reading some of the other threads....let's say you've been to therapy for a while, and perhaps have made some improvements to yourself from it. Now you consider the possibility of stopping therapy, and starting a relationship with the therapist.

Why do the people against an affair with the therapist often appeal to the illegality of it in several states? After all, gay marriage is also illegal in several states, and I would imagine several of us would not be against the idea of gay people getting married in a different state just because it is illegal in our particular state.

Second, so what if there is a power differential? That's the case in many relationships. Our partners often use our weaknesses against us in arguments in heated moments. We probably do the same at times. When I got together with my partner, I imagined that I would tell him everything about my internal mental life. And for the most part I have been able to. At times I didn't feel accepted, but I didn't hesitate to state what i am like inside. Very similar to how my T knows me, but maybe even better since there are things which seem too inconsequential to bring up in therapy and there is also a limit on the time. My partner definitely has a more dominating personality than me. I sometimes cannot stand up to him or its hard for me to discern my true feelings because I am so swayed by his. That's the way it is, how is it so different from whatever power the therapist might have over me.