I'm sorry if this post is not very supportive but here is my answer...

I understand your disappointment but I think such therapy still can be serious and in my opinion it is absolutely not unethical for therapists to provide such help if another way is not possible... I guess, short-term therapy might be good when someone is in crisis, grieve etc. so that the person gets a support for two months and hopefully it will be helpful enough. Of course it won't work for everyone but then the question is if it's better to stay without any support or to get these 8-10 sessions... And I believe that in many cases the latter is the better option, a client can learn some grounding skills, coping mechanisms, is able to talk to someone etc. so it is already helpful even if it is not enough.

I guess it also depends on the country, for instance in my homeland it is not uncommon that patients get refunds only e.g. for two months of expensive but life-saving medicines and afterwards they have to pay by themselves... It is cruel and terrible but that's how it works and we can blame the government but no one would ever say that it's a doctor's fault and it's unethical to prescribe these medicaments with the knowledge that in two months the patient won't be able to afford paying for them. In the best case, two months of a treatment are enough and if not, that's the time which a patient has for finding other funding sources...

But coming back to therapy, I don't know why a therapist already at the first session should know much better than a client how much money the client has, how much time is needed, how fast the client will progress, how deep the problems are etc... For instance I knew that my problems might take some time, so I waited till I was sure that I could afford therapy. Of course from the beginning it was clear how expensive each session is so I just had to calculate how often I can come etc. but I always thought that it was my responsibility and not my therapist's...

I hope you will find a good solution for your case...