She has said I am smart a few times. She has recently said that I am smarter than her and it makes me hard to talk to sometimes. I had allowed that she had made a logical counterargument that caused me to reconsider the validity of my own argument. She thanked me for acknowledging that she had a point. It seemed like she was saying thanks for letting me win a debate based on logic for once.

She has never said I am unique, special, brave, or anything along those lines. If she said I was unique or special, I would be disgusted and consider her a liar. If she said I was brave, I'd think she was an idiot and a liar. These accolades you've listed ring particularly false to me. Perhaps the "smart" one doesn't bother me as much because I am aware that I am objectively intelligent, regardless of the therapist's motivations for telling me so.

I don't really respond when she occasionally says I'm smart. I don't think I'm stupid, but I don't know what her purpose is in complimenting my intelligence. Maybe she means it. I don't know. She could simply have identified something I value - intelligence - and be attempting to exploit this value by saying I possess it.

On the other hand, she also has no problem pointing out negative things about me, so I'm not sure that she's the type to use flattery as an emotional weapon. If she is, she's not very good at it. I'm much more likely to receive criticism or no flattery/praise from her than I am to receive a compliment. Either way, I have no emotional attachment to the therapist's compliments that I am aware of.

P.S. I answered "what do you mean by etc"