I wonder about being a good patient. I guess I think of "good" as entailing a kind of compliance that I find discomfiting if not outright distasteful. Maybe that's not what the OP meant though?

I mean, my goodness, there you are processing trauma or grief or wading through your depression, let's say, and it's incredibly difficult and often just miserable. On top of that there's all the maddening ways in which your therapist is imperfect, the fact of having to pay them rather a lot of money, the general pain of growing and likely some thorny transference issues as well. With all of that you're supposed to be good too?

You're supposed to behave in a way that is flattering to therapist's ego? You're supposed to show deference and gratitude on a regular basis? I'm thinking no effin way! T should be worried about being a good T. I worry about being good at my job, at parenthood, at marriage, at friendship to name a few. But I can't also worry about pleasing my therapist. She gets paid plenty. It's not my job to be easy.* I think it would actually be detrimental to my therapy.

(*with gratitude here to tiny rabbit who first said this)