I told my counselor about this question and she said that lots of times clients and therapist "visit" this because good therapy is when a client and therapist are close enough so that the client feels they can talk to the therapist but yet the therapist remains objective and on the sidelines allowing the client to solve their own problems. she said in the issue of having friendships between the therapist and client DURING therapy here in the USA there is an ethics law that gives a specific time when the client therapist relationship is considered a friendship. it has specific guidelines and time frame where the therapist and client must not have any contact. Each state sets their own amount of time that must pass with no contact usually a year sometimes two or three.n and that here at this agency the protocal is that if a client and therapist fall into a friendship relationship during therapy the therapist must address the issue with the client and make immediate request to have the client reassigned to a new therapist in the agency or give the client information about other counseling agecys in the community. She said a therapist is supposed to remain neutral and they cant do that if they are looking at their client as a friend who they don't want to see get hurt and sometimes therapy does cause clients discomfort and mental pain when they are dealing with issues that they have previously ignored and repressed. a therapist who doesn't want to see their client in this kind of pain won't be able to do their job of making the client face their problems and take care of them. I told here it makes sense to me cause my friends would rather do things for me instead of watching me cry and get frustrated about something.