I'm not sure. My experience is different. I wonder if you might think of it as if therapy is the test, we take it and either arrive at accurate or inaccurate answers, and working with the recording is where we can go back and correct our answers for our sake: for the sake of understanding the problem better next time and self-satisfaction, as well as for taking the opportunity to study a subject we find interesting. I could compare therapeutic records to buying a record of a concert I attended: listening to the record won't give me the same experience, but it's lovely to have more time to hear the lyrics and find new insights in them.

Of course, therapy's not a test, no perfect way to do it, and one size doesn't fit all, so I understand recording sessions would only be beneficial for some.

For me, since I don't believe it's possible to perfectly resolve/reflect on/work through everything in session, and also that it's not possible to even address every potential issue within 50 minutes, that it's nice to have a reassuring record to work through further for those of us that like home study, haha. This is not to say I do not re-address confusion or issues in subsequent therapy sessions: my therapist and I definitely experience and work through ruptures on a regular basis.

As far as retaining what we're able to at any time.... I guess maybe the way I need to think of it as that a session might be all a client is able to retain, maybe not everyone is ready to have more access to the material, and it can be really helpful to know the therapeutic hour is a contained reality/experience.