I feel that I know my therapist. I have mad Google stalking skills, and my therapist is no blank screen. He has opinions, and he makes them very obvious. He tells me things about himself--bits and pieces of information here and there. I collect them to piece together an image of him (it's like piecing together a puzzle).

I'm certain he's not putting on an act, and he's not an asshole in real life. For one thing, he teaches college courses, and I've read his student reviews. Whether it's 20 years ago or a few months ago, his students love him. "Best professor I've ever had"-type of thing.

He feels like a real person to me, and that's one of my favorite things about him. I can't stand orthodox "blank screen" analysts and emotionally unavailable cognitive-behavioral therapists. The latter can literally be replaced by robots. (I know someone who's working on an app that provides CBT.)