I think it's important to remember the difference between feelings and behavior. As a therapist, I have all kinds of feelings in session. I think it's safe to say that most of us have positive feelings for our clients. Not always. Nevertheless, we want them to succeed. We want them to feel better. We want them to be happy. At the same time, we also recognize that what benefits the client most in the long run is for us act within professional boundaries. Those boundaries are there to protect the client, not the therapist. Bowen's theory of Differentiation of Self is particularly instructive on this matter, in my opinion. So we behave in certain ways regardless of how we feel, because it's the professional, ethical thing to do. Because we respect the individual and their right to choose their own path, we do not contaminate the process with our own emotional needs and expressions (to the best of our ability). So I guess this is a very windy way of saying therapists remain inside professional boundaries because we care, not because we don't.
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