Hugging at the end of sessions was normal, unplanned, spontaneous, and a non-issue. I'm a hugger, so that was never a big deal.

Touch during sessions was a different matter. There were moments when my therapists initiated touch. They ALWAYS asked permission first because usually if they felt the need to initiate touch, something was going on that they needed to be sure that I realized (first of all) that they were about to touch me (for instance, if I was particularly dissociated or had my eyes closed). Or, sometimes the touch was in conjunction with something we were discussing and they were just being respectful in asking before doing. It wasn't something that was common during my sessions, so a bit of warning was needed. I didn't have a problem with being touched, but I did appreciate the warning. I didn't find it was something that made me particularly emotional; generally I was already emotional by that point.