I'm big on pointing out things people have done that were helpful or comforting/reassuring to me, especially if it is not what most people would do. In my pdoc's case that would be /most doctors/.

So yeah, I tell him sometimes - we had a rather tumultuous start (I was really afraid of doctors when I started seeing him, so of him also) and two weeks ago I mentioned specifically what had been the turning point. Also, I sometimes comment, when it happens or the next session, that specific think were kind or helpful, or just thanked him for a very appropriate response.

I always do things like that, with a lot of people in my life, because I want to tell them to keep doing what they are doing - not to me specifically, but just in general. Because people tend to have the inclination to conform, and an exceptional act shouldn't be removed in order to conform. If people do what is right instead of what is easy, I tell them how helpful it was. If people do something unusual that's helpful, I'll tell them.I'd

I'm not sure if using the word /special/ would be right though.. but I appreciate him a lot and, like most people and actions I appreciate, I mention those specific acts when they come up.

Then again.. he's a doctor and I voluntarily go to see him. I'm not even usually more highly alert than usual in his office..
Maybe /special/ is the right word. ;-)
Or my standards are just eSPECIALly low and my pdoc sticks out above them.
Probably a combination. He does enough compliment-worthy things, but I comment on them more often because they rise way above my expectations.
My T is good too, but I say things like that less often to her I think. Because she doesn't rise as much above my T expectations as pdoc rises above my doctor expectations.

But I'm not like 'you're so special to me' and they aren't, not in that way. I am like 'I appreciate you doing x, it helped me y', meaning their actions were especial, not they themselves. Their role as a treatment provider. What I see of them. But I don't know them outside of "the office" and
I don't know how they would be if I(nsurance) weren't paying. So I can't speak as to them - only as to what they show, in this situation.