I think this question touches on so many different kinds of problems that arise in therapy. I agree with others who seem to be saying that going too far in either direction is problematic.

The way I see it, therapists are no different from anyone else who are trying to hone and employ a set of skills. The thing about it is that the skills they are trying to put in place often require overriding a lot of the things that make us human, while maintaining their humanity enough to be able to identify how we, the clients, might better be able to relate to other humans in a non-T interaction. So it can kind of get to feeling like they're doing something "superhuman" -- and sadly, many T's certainly seem to *think* they are superhuman -- but they're not, really. They're practicing a skill.

My own job doesn't involve other people's feelings, but I have to override my humanity in certain ways. There are people in my field who think this makes them superhuman, much to my annoyance. It doesn't.

At the same time in EVERY field and in EVERY situation there's always a danger of falling into the "I'm only human" trap. It's easy for such a thing to become an excuse. I'm only human, so if I mess up a project because I'm grieving my grandmother's death, it's understandable to my coworkers even if it impacts them negatively. The question then becomes, what do I do about the fact that my "humanness" is interfering with my work? I don't see it as being any different for a T. Sometimes I think it can be the case that a T can get so burnt out with trying to be "superhuman" that he or she might get resentful and defensive if they do make a "human" mistake, and end up dismissing it. So it's kind of a special version of a pretty common disaster.

Anyway, I think this balance comes into play in many professions -- it's just that with therapy, a big part of that profession is another person's feelings and deepest vulnerabilities. We also go into it with so many expectations of the T tending to our feelings that it feels extra bad if suddenly their personal life peeks through. So the stakes end up being really high, and what might be just a bump in the road in another line of work can be a horrible rupture in the T relationship.