There's a lot to say on this topic and I believe I've written many responses to threads on these boards where a similar question is asked.

My thoughts can be summarized as:
-All people have a choice in how to make a living and therapists in particular chose this therapy profession. So, competent therapists do care about their jobs and care about their clients and want to be helpful. They are probably curious about people and the human condition. There are many ways to make money in this world. One does not have to choose to be a therapist. So it's a special type of person who chooses to be a therapist.

-All relationship involve some exchange -- one gives and one takes and vice versa. In therapy, you give money and you take in listening, being heard, a desire to understand you, clinical expertise, and time. In a marriage or long term partnership, there is an exchange of companionship, child-rearing capability, money and sex. In a best friendship, there is an exchange of listening, being heard, a desire to understand each other, and time -- but it is mutual. In a professor-student relationship, the student takes in learning and the professor is paid. An exchange of some sort doesn't lessen or cheapen the relationship, it is the basis of the relationship. Affection can be feigned but true affection cannot be bought.

--The only chance one has in life for an imbalance in give and take is with one's own parents. If one did not get that in childhood, the loss can be bitter. The loss must be mourned.

--The way to lessen the sting of having a paid therapist who seeks to help you and understand you is to cultivate relationship in real life with people who matter MORE to you than the therapist. You are not the number one person in the therapist's life and when you are emotionally healthy, the therapist will not be the number one person in your life. If you are wondering if you are emotionally healthy, and the therapist is the number one person in your life, then the answer is that you have more work to do.