Do therapists get attached to clients?

its very similar...i currently work with adults, but ive also worked a lot with children. when i worked in an RTF with kids, i certainly had my favorites. im drawn to very smart kids who are more than a little sarcastic you'd be surprised how many kids fit that bill!! even with the "behavioral problem" kids, i became attached to many of them! there was one girl who was 12 and bipolar and had a temper on her! but, to this day, she was my absolute favorite....i guess she would be like 20 now! (gawd, im old! lol)

i think its the same with adults...when our personalities mesh well, they become favorites.

i think countertransference is very important...especially when its negative! sometimes that is indicating that youre seeing something in yourself reflected, and you dont like it. and other times its a reminder of people with whom youve had negative interactions. but either way, its a great discussion to have. because if the therapist is feeling this way towards the client, the chances are that he/she is not the first person to feel that way.

yeah, I don't ever expect my T to tell me if I'm her favorite or not, but she totally gets my sense of humor (gallows-sarcastic-self deprecating), and sometimes I'll say something that I don't think is "LOL" funny, but she does! haha

I got the most amazing gift from my T a few weeks ago. I was having trouble with her leaving on vacation and we had all kinds of discussion of how I would be able to endure it. Well, she said to me, "You know, attachment isn't only one way." She went on to say that she didn't want me to suffer while she's gone and wanted to work with me on how I could best handle it.

I think she may have felt o.k. about telling me that because I am very conscientious about boundaries and would never ever cross them intentionally. I feel she likes me and that helps me in therapy a lot. [Of course, she may just be really really good at what she does - empathic relationship building] But, I am very sensitive to people and can pick up a lot from my own instincts.

i have never told a client that theyre the best ever, but i think they know.

the fabulous thing about having favorites is that theres always room for more!

I don't think my T has any unusual attachment to me but a few years ago I told my Pdoc that I wanted to terminate our relationship and see another Pdoc and she started crying after I said that. I felt really bad. I hadn't expected that.