What you're describing sounds like a healthy working alliance which involves positive feeling and a measure of dependence. But as you point out, you see the relationship within a context bigger than therapy itself. Boundaries shift under stress, but that's temporary and true of all relationships.


That context may be a really important variable. For those who seem to experience the most turmoil, therapy isn't considered as within a wider context; there's an insularity about it that is magnified. And the therapy is examined using only the therapy as the referent: it's a temptation inherent in the field, to be sure, but can easily result in an Alice in Wonderland experience. I would say that therapists who encourage such isolation of reflection is a red flag of a process at risk.