I think my T does stuff to provide support, show compassion and empathy. If attachment happens then she works with it. I guess I think of it as her providing the playing field and I (conscious or not) have the playbook. For me, her behavior did encourage attachment and I believe it needed to encourage attachment. For others, it might not.

At the same time she does not do anything as direct as to tell me to refer to her as anything but Dr. <last name>, there is very minimal touch allowed and she has only initiated it a few times, she does not initiate any of the many activities we do nor suggest where we should go next with things - it is for me to feel my way through what seems to be wanting to come out and be discussed.

She does say that I can reach out to her via phone or email anytime I want and she will get back to me as soon as possible. We've talked about what that means and in short it means as soon as she has seen the message and she has time to already set aside for work or can make time so that she is focused and able to respond the way she feels is most helpful. She might not see the message right away because of many reasons including that she is taking care of herself and her life - which means being disconnected from work.

I wouldn't say she is fostering dependency or independence as if they are mutually exclusive. I believe she is allowing me the opportunity to experience how the two overlap - creating a healthy dependency in humankind does help us connect to others and build lasting relationships while maintaining our boundaries around our respective independent self's.