My therapist has been in practice 20 years. She says she does not plan sessions, and that each client-therapist relationship unfolds differently. It's my experience that she doesn't have an agenda as far as saying or doing certain things: she lets me lead, and based on her years of training and decades of experience, she is at the ready to relate to me in a therapeutic method. She draws on her knowledge of theory and tools, as well as the skills of empathy, mirroring, critical thinking, problem solving, etc. as needed, almost always with a sense of warmth, caring, and sometimes humor.

So, in her case, I'd say she is just especially skilled/experienced at building the therapeutic relationship: she doesn't need a script, she can improvise. I don't think she's said everything a million times before either. We've talked about a number of unique things that require her authentic, novel response, which is of course, still grounded somewhat in her vocational experience.