More replies to specific comments later, but just a quick update from today's session (cross-posting from Couch): So...I think session went well? T took it very seriously, saying at the beginning "I think this will be a very important conversation." I discovered a throw pillow in his office that has very comforting fringe, so I stroked that much of the session. (How did I not discover that before?) It basically came down to...T is trying not to be ex-MC. He doesn't want to repeat those mistakes and lead me down that path. He's concerned that saying "I care about you" takes it outside of the therapeutic relationship. He was fine with saying "I care about you as a client," and we spent lots of time talking about what that meant. Because, to me, that meant "I care about you as long as you are paying me." But he said it wasn't about that. More about what therapeutic relationship entails. There was much more to the session that I may write up later in IST, but still processing. For now, I plan to continue working with him.