Exactly. The legitimacy of this whole model seems to rest on a handful of anecdotal stories, plus (as you say) the convenient dismissal of, and indifference to, adverse outcomes. There seems to be an unspoken belief that a few wrecked lives are acceptable collateral damage in support of a few success stories.

Plus, most of the apparent success stories seem to involve a client still in the throes of dependency and attachment. If it were to end tomorrow, what would happen to the client? And when you are playing entirely by someone else's rules, an abrupt ending is always a possibility. A frequent defense of this is that all relationships can end suddenly. But therapy is supposed to be different. It is supposed to be a form of treatment, a controlled process, sustained by payment, therefore not the same at all.