Ask a Therapist

Hi there – so, a question I get asked often by people is: “I wish my therapist could be my friend, and sometimes I feel like they are. Does this mean I’m doing therapy wrong?”

The short answer is no, because you are building rapport and you are human, and you’re allowed to feel connected to another human being. It’s a good sign because that way that means you can build trust. The only caveat there is that you need to also keep in mind some boundaries because a therapist is not going to show up in your life the way a friend would, or could, right? So you need to maintain that boundary in a professional setting.

And you can in fact talk about this, the fact that you feel like your therapist is your friend and that you feel really connected to her or him, and it’s just a great way of building further rapport and trust. So, there’s absolutely nothing wrong there. You just need to ensure that you maintain boundaries so that bias can be managed and the best service can be given to you.