I have never confused my therapist with a friend and have never wanted him to be my friend. I have always felt I went to see my therapist to heal, and that meant resolving issues past and present--never just to chat and catch up on things! (Others may view their therapeutic relationship like that, but not me--for one thing, since I pay 100% out of pocket, it's too expensive to just chat.) But I guess I viewed myself as wounded, rather than with a condition with a clinical name. But I guess it really is just the same--just semantics, I guess. (My T has said several times before that I am very sensitive to the nuances of language, and he tends to be too, so we are a good match that way.) I really like the therapeutic relationship just the way it is and really like being my T's client (not patient).