I think some of ET, at least for me, was about a fantasy of merging with another person so as not to feel so terribly alone. Merging not as in sex, but merging in terms of heart and soul and just a kind of fantasy theoretical one-ness.

Such a thing is not possible, of course, and we have to just grapple with existential loneliness as best we can, I guess. For me it is always there even when I am with others, but some things do make it ache less. I rely more on those things now--time with friends, appreciating art, being outside in nature, being with children--and spend less time feeling longing feelings towards my therapist or thinking about him.