Just something that came to me...

When someone suffers from hypothermia, they are cold and irritable. They might also be hungry and thirsty.

But you must not expose the patient to direct heat and you must not give them anything to eat or drink. That pulls warm blood away from the brain and could kill the patient.

Instead, the best way is to expose them to normal body heat. It takes a long time to warm them up that way but it is the safest course.

I think something very similar happens in therapy. The patient is desperate for love and affirmation, but the therapist seems cold and unresponsive. Mere listening politely doesn't seem anything like enough! But it works in time. And to do more might be very dangerous.