My therapy has always been very unstructured. But I would barely say that it was paid friendship. My therapy provided me a safe place to begin to even figure out what my issues were. I entered therapy so broken and so confused that I was just trying to keep my head above water. A lot of my healing has come from using my therapist a sounding board to think out loud. My personality is also such that I need to fully understand a problem and be able to see the benefits of a potential solution before I feel comfortable taking any action. Talking freely with my therapist has allowed me to think about my issues from multiple angles and then the therapist has helped guide me towards the solution by giving me feedback. My therapy has always been very client directed. This style has worked well for me.