Funny, I just sent a thank-you e-mail to my marriage counselor (and hadn't read this thread before for some reason!) Like you, I'm better at saying stuff like that in writing than in person. I've sent thanks to him before and also to my T. Once I said it in person to my T, like, "Thanks for being there for me. I mean, I know it's your job, but..." and she said that was true (that it was her job), but that it's always nice to hear thanks. MC seems more insecure/in need of validation (certainly compared to her!) so that makes me want to thank him more.

My thank-you to MC was thanking him for today's session and "for being understanding and awesome in general." Went on to say how a few things in today's session particularly affected me, because I think they went back to some childhood stuff, which made me emotional afterward (and I acknowledged how my "warm/fuzzy" feelings for him afterward were probably due to the transference, which we've discussed before). But I opened and closed with the "thanks" part.