I think it's usually an attempt to give a person room to feel the way they feel, etc. The notion of it being 'permission' isn't really intended to be 'permission' as such. And there really are a lot of us that - for whatever reason - feel constricted and it helps to have a therapist confirm that we have a 'right' to feel the way we feel, etc. So you (Stopdog) clearly have absolutely no need for that... But therapists are just trying to facilitate when they tell someone that.