Some can be. I don't understand why your first one wants to be so mysterious. She must have some kind of issue with feeling a lack of power or something. But the second one doesn't seem to be all mysterious about things. I think most therapists see empathy and developing a warm relationship with a client as being beneficial to the client, and most clients respond well to that. But you have made it abundantly clear to that first one that you are not at all interested in such a thing. I don't 'get' why she thinks that she knows you better than you know yourself. My own therapist says that she will always defer to my judgment about myself. Along the way, there were certainly times that things she wanted me to do that she was convinced I needed were totally wrong for me in my opinion. Sometimes she tried to keep pushing, but she ALWAYS respected and deferred to my sense of what was good for me. She told me that I would teach her how to 'treat' me, and that it was her job to follow my lead. We would have lots of discussion about it, and she was interested in why I saw things the way I saw them. But she always deferred to what I believed was good for me. If I told my therapist what you have told yours, I am quite certain that mine would adjust herself to 'be' what I needed her to be and would not push her own agenda on me. This is why I don't think all therapists are wily. Mine is not. She's the real deal. And if you were seeing my therapist, you might have a different opinion about therapy and therapists in general, because she would truly follow your lead and would not attempt to 'take control' of your therapy.