I agree with therapy being very analogous to training horses. I notice similarities in the way my T treats me and how I treated abused animals I was trying to rehabilitate.

The first abused horse I rehabilitated, we spent most of the first year working on her trusting me. She wanted to fight at first, and had put her last handler in the hospital for an extended time. We had some long, serious discussions before she realized that I was not going to harm her, and listening to me had rewards. Just because her life had been hard and horrible before, and things had always been that way, didn't mean it always had to be that way. But until she was able to allow herself to lower her guard, and listen to me and agree to try things my way, she was just stuck in this angry, fighting stance.

That is what I realized I had to at least try in therapy this time. Things had always been a certain way for me. I knew that I didn't want it to always be that way, and I had to try something different. I was willing to attempt a partnership with my T and try to figure out something new. This partnership feeling may be missing in some therapy relationships, or maybe the person involved may not be in a place where they are desperate enough to try something new or different.