It is the WAY he does it. It does not strike me as genuine. Because of my childhood I am very sensitive to genuine.

Now I am getting to the point that I can accept not being "genuine" -- that is, when I think I understand it, I am not as worried by it. Strange.

I think that he thinks that praising people is the thing to do -- it will get HIM approval. He does not modulate it enough to fit the situation.

Am I making myself clear? Probably not. One can do something or say something and the meaning of it can be entirely different, depending on the details of how it is done or said. Body language, context, pauses, tone of voice, everything contributes. That is why I find the descriptions of types of therapy (psychodynamic, behavioral, etc.) so inadequate: they leave out everything that is crucial to seeing why something works or it doesn't! And almost no one mentions even the existence of the crucial factors!

No wonder that what makes the difference between a successful therapy and one that isn't seems so mysterious to people. And why insurance companies do not want to pay for something that seems so uncertain (and really is not).