I didn't mean to imply the client is responsible for confusion, it is just how some people respond to the dynamic. Many clients do not struggle with the relationship and its very common for clients to feel ambivalent about therapy/Ts.


[/QUOTE]Wow they are vastly different to me. Other relationships allow for shared intimacy and shared vulnerability. If you ask a question of a person with whom you have a real world relationship, you at least have a fair chance of an honest answer. With a therapist it is often unclear whether a question should be asked at all, let alone whether the answer will be genuine. Seems like many therapists are masters of evasion and obfuscation.[/QUOTE]

I dont think the relationship as a whole is the same, just that you never know how another person really thinks and feels. You can ask a partner and they might answer, but you dot know of if the answer is honest. I thinkhing what keeps the therapy relationship from becoming too confusing is the one-sidedness. For me it would be more troublesome if the exchange of information was mutual, since it would then feel like a paid friendship. That being said, I do think most therapists care about clients, and I can't imagine why they wouldn't. There would be very little basis for going into the field and even less job satisfaction. I know there are limits to that care, but I believe that is a fairly transparent part of the field. It is not common practice for Ts to fool clients. Many Ts are naive and misguided rather than deceitful and they are not good representatives of the profession as a whole.