I think telling him you love him will be useful....I remember once I spent nearly the whole session in tears trying to say to T that I felt as if I loved her....I did wonder if she was waiting for some traumatic memory to be told but when I finally pulled myself together I said, I feel as if I love you...I've not said it again in as many words as I've switched it to, "I think of you as my mother", but yeah I wish I could just say "I LOVE YOU" again...to me that is the hardest thing to reveal in therapy...