I've seen social hierarchy established in the most subtle ways, a tone of voice, word use, body position, gesture, even how one uses the furniture. I'd feel demeaned, for example, if someone told me that I wasn't perceiving reality correctly, as though he was the one arbiter.

My therapists all behaved as though they had some life knowledge I didn't. Grad school teaches them labels,jargon and procedure. No education confers life knowledge. A couple of therapists I've encountered none-professionally are two of the most posturing, vainglorious human specimens I've had the misfortune of knowing.