It's interesting to read your stories about the therapeutic relationship. I was bothered by similar questions when I was younger. How much does the therapist care for me?

I never had a male T for that reason. I would have definitely tried to make them fall in love with me, and the whole thing would have been pointless.

When I was mid-twenties, I cleaned house once a week for two different psychotherapists. It was sobering! They worked from home and I got to see behind the scenes, how they handled their daily lives.

At first, I was shocked. They didn't seem to care at all! They'd come straight out of a session and immediately play with their children or make jokes or chat on the phone with their friends.

So, it did change the way I'd always see them, from then on.

As I got older, I could assess things slightly differently. It isn't that the T's 'didn't care'. They did, but in an appropriate way. They were professional at all times. It was more like the way you can come to care about your work colleagues. It's real. But it is different to real life friendships.

They encourage caring feelings in you. But they're also trying to teach you how to handle those feelings in an appropriate way. That's my opinion, at least. They want you to act as they do, by opening up in the session, and switching it off when you leave. It's all genuine feeling. But with limits.