How do therapists keep themselves from getting attached to their patients?

The truly good therapists don’t, nor do they deny their attachment exists.

Yes, therapists regulate their emotions and don’t act on most of them with their clients. Yes, they have boundaries, and no, they won’t likely share a whole lot about their attachment to a client with that client. But, make no mistake, they do get attached. And that’s a very good thing.

Find a therapist who isn’t afraid of attachment and knows how to work with it. Probably close to one hundred percent of the reasons we go to therapy stem from attachment wounding in our childhoods. Go through a healthy attachment and differentiation process with a therapist, and you’ll grow and change a lot. You’ll also experience the level of safety and trust needed to talk about the difficult stuff you will need to talk about to progress that way as well.