I'm glad things are a little clearer. I was feeling a little bit misunderstood in general so I realized I was not coming across in the way that I thought.

Anyway, there have been posts that have either explicitly or implicitly suggested something kinda absolute about rules and boundaries. Also the needs of the therapist without a lot of regard for the client. And there have been examples of how someone set a boundary or rule in a way that was hurtful because it was just done with a kind of flat footed automatic manner.

The problem is that the client is vulnerable in all kinds of ways and also has less experience with how the therapeutic relationship works so extra consideration needs to be taken. Someone said something about not having "reinvent the wheel" with every client, but in practice that actually has to take place because the client doesn't know. And also I believe that there are lots of variations between clients so therapists have to adapt to each individual and their differences from others, including but not exclusively to cultural difference, as I pointed out. Time also makes a difference. Things shift over time. What was true at one time in therapy may not be the case later. Flexibility and humbleness are necessary for the job. When things sound kinda authoritarian I worry that that is not in place.