Personally, I believe the relationship is not identical on both sides but is equal. Money and effort exchanged for skill and effort. I know it's more complex in therapy than perhaps when buying tires, haha, but I really don't see the relationships as unequal, and I do think there are therapists who become as committed to the client as the client is to the therapist, though certainly not always, so CantExplain's revelation does make sense to me.