Well he isn't going to barf!

He also seems to be very, very involved with you from his side, very invested. We know he bends average boundaries for you, and he has seen you through a few variations on this without disconnecting. However, he has been challenged and struggled too in the eye of the tempests created.

IMO you stand to have your feelings really hurt, because he won't say it back.

What is unclear to me is how he feels ( I am clear he knows the lines of his profession).

He seems like he wanted unltimately to have you feeling comfortable to have a relationship outside/ after therapy.

I doubt he would be surprised by you saying ILY, and he might be touched by that more than likely to terminate you.

The only thing though is the other stories on this forum ,and their outcomes.

My T just wouldn't permit it. He nips any, any chance of that in the bud. He doesn't hug anyone, he has a three foot rule ( but he relaxed it for me recently I noticed ), and he has photos of his wife and kids front and center. There's just no possible way ILY could be said to him. He doesn't text like your T does, he won't allow dogs in his office - it is like they are in two different universes, so I can't really put myself in your T's view of the situation like I want to.

I don't think my T would terminate someone for feeling or saying that, but he would launch into his litany of all the things the therapy relationship is not and be very reproving.

Your T is much more involved with you, more deeply engaged .