Personally, I've never felt the need to demand anything of a therapist, but I have made requests of my T. For example, I have asked a previous T to read a clinical book that I found really resonated with me and I wanted to discuss it. She was happy to do so and we had some great sessions discussing the book and how I felt it related to my issues. If she had refused, I don't think I would have quit, because I found her helpful in a lot of areas and I felt she had excellent therapeutic skills.

In regard to the issue that prompted this thread, I think it is perfectly reasonable for an individual to ask their T to take a course or get training in a specific area related to the client's concern or to get supervision or consultation from a T who specializes in the area the client wants the T to be more proficient in. If the T refused or treated the request in cavalier attitude or claimed to "know everything there was to know about the subject" when he/she obviously didn't, I'd be out the door in a NY minute. But that's me. I don't consider myself as ever being seriously attached or connected in an intense way with any T I've ever hired. I liked the ones I saw and got a lot of my time with them, but when I felt that we were done, I left. I do understand that many people feel intense attachment to their Ts and even though they might be disappointed or hurt by their behavior, it's hard for them to move on. That gums up the works.