Dear LT,
Your e-mail did actually hurt me a little--but that's OK, and I'm not going to abandon you for it. It just made me think about how different I have been with my patients since then. I guess I didn't realize how different I'd been. I thought I was mostly the same, though maybe a bit more distant. Thanks for making me aware of that. And for waiting a bit to do that--if you'd said that to me a couple months ago, I'd have been more likely to have been defensive or lashed out. That was just the place I was in then.

I appreciate you being sensitive to my feelings and needs, though I'll tell you that you don't have to care about them. Because that's what I'm supposed to say. But it really does touch me that you care so much. So thank you. Maybe you are a little more special to me than some of my other patients. I suspect even if they knew what happened, many of them would say they were sorry, but deep down they wouldn't give a ****. You're perhaps too far at the other end of the spectrum--you care *too* much. And that can be hard for me to deal with at times, because it makes me have to think about my own emotions. It's easier to keep the wall up at work. But at least you seem sensitive to my needs around that and aren't pushing too hard for me to share.

So even if you can be a bit (or really!) challenging sometimes and can be a bit needy and demanding of my time, I'm really glad you're my patient. Because just as you've said I make you feel understood, you make me feel understood, too.
Love you,
MC