I think the premise of the T gift boundary is that it changes the relationship. Gifts come with a host of expectations, and reciprocal giving can not happen in a T relationship. T is not supposed to receive gifts from clients because the therapy is not supposed to be about T, and accepting the gift would make T the focus. For therapy to work, T has to put their needs aside within the relationship with client. Gift giving, and receiving, is what friends do and T can't be a friend. If T acted like a friend to the client, and received the gift, the relationship would change into more of a friendship than a T relationship. I know it may sound backwards, but really, a T refusing a gift is a very caring T thing to do, because they are protecting the T relationship. If they accepted it, there is a very big chance their own needs may damage the T relationship. So, it's all about the T being very careful to remain a T to you.