My T initially thought I meant romantic love when I told her I loved her. That was messy and painful.

She accepts my attachment and I think she has an idea of the pain. I asked her if she ever felt someone was hugely important to her but knew she's not important to that person. She said she does. So I think she understands a little.

She's not attached to her own therapist, according to her. She believes my attachment is due to my unmet emotional needs. I tried really hard to tell her that those unmet emotional needs makes the feelings intense.

It's difficult to talk about attachment with her because of how ashamed I am about it. She's been understanding and kind but also expressed discomfort given how it's "unusual" and "not common" for a client to express these feelings to her. I told her that it's likely that other long term clients feel attachment and such feelings but perhaps don't bring it up because they're afraid to.