I read something by a therapist once that said one of the reasons why a therapist can't meet someone for coffee is to protect the therapeutic relationship in case it's ever needed again. That made a lot of sense to me - there are lots of people out there in the world I could be friends with, but not that many I want to spill my guts to in therapy.

I think a lot of people struggle with painful feelings of attachment - it seems a really normal part of therapy for some of us! When I first started seeing my therapist I became very worried that he would die- I have had a lot of loss in my life. Talking about it helped. I don't think feeling attached to a therapist is anything to be ashamed of, or anything that a decent therapist shouldn't be able to handle.