I hug my T every session. Twice last session in fact. We occasionally hold hands which I find grounding and comforting.

The way the topic of touch first happened was that I had asked my previous therapist for a hug and he refused. I found this incredibly painful and it played a part in an accumulation of things that led to me ending therapy with him, which was very traumatic.

I assumed that my current T didn't hug (because I experienced him as quite a straight laced kind of guy) and I was never going to ask because I couldn't face that rejection again. One time, about a year and a half (i think?) into therapy with him, I was talking about the hug rejection and he said something like "I have thought a lot about what I would do if you were ever to ask me for a hug. I would not refuse to hug you". I was so surprised and blown away.

We talked a lot about what meaning any touch would have and what purpose it would serve. It was probably a month later when we hugged for the first time. I remember it feeling a bit awkward and weird. We didn't hug regularly at first.

I first asked him about hand holding around the time we started having conversations about touch. He said he would be happy to do that if I thought it might be helpful. I've held his hand maybe 4 times in the last couple of years (most recently 2 sessions ago).

We hug at the end of every session now. Sometimes mid session if I ask.