No. I have had two Ts and neither was an authority figure to me. I am female and did not view my first T, a woman 10 years younger, or my current T, a man 5 years older, as authority figures. However, I did view them as experts in their field--certainly way more knowledgeable than I am about therapy type things. I am not sure I view anyone as an authority figure.

Especially with my current T, I view him as a peer, and I think this has really contributed to some of the successes in my therapy. A number of the problems I work on in therapy are related to "peer" relations out in the real world, so it is easier to work them out with someone who is more of a peer than "above" me.