I'm really sorry you feel this way, SM, and that you are in so much pain.

I know that I will be told off for voicing this, but it is in fact possible to care, quite genuinely, even when you are paid to see somebody once a week. I see my students once a week or once a month or even more seldom than that. Those I see more regularly, I often care about quite a bit - it is not the same kind of care that I feel for my nieces and nephews, or for my friends, but it is no less genuine for being of a different kind. My friends don't need me, but my students do (a little, for the specific issues that they come to see me about) and that does foster a sense of caring.

I would find it very difficult to have a job where you are required to meet with people one-on-one and have serious discussions with them, if there was no level of care anywhere.

And yes, this forum is very destructive in the sense that it is very easy to get discouraged by reading all the negative stories that people tell. But that is the purpose of the forum, to give people a place to vent. It's good to be aware of the fact that each person's experiences only apply to them, though. (And by the same token, my experiences only apply to me, but at least it shows that it is not correct to say that there can'ät possibly be any caring involved in a paid relationship. I'm not saying that there has to be, but it is definitely possible.)