After I posted and came back to read other responses, I remembered a time recently when he said I might have to pay for cancelled sessions if I made a habit of it (though I already paid for sessions cancelled last minute in the past). But that was during our extreme rupture, where I almost quit.

All the other times were back when I had that really young transference. It didn't seem to phase him one bit. But also, what brought me to cancel were really odd transference reactions, that seemed infantile in nature as they had no words (pre-verbal memories). Totally different than the rupture scenerio.

I do agree it's technically fair for a therapist to cancel, but fair isn't always best or the right thing to do. I think context is important, and I question his filling the slot in a half hour. Possible, yes. And I'd get over it if he did give away my slot... But I'd be pretty upset if I found out my therapist lied. Although I can't imagine mine lying about something like that it's difficult to not to consider the scenerio.

How is your relationship otherwise? It sounds like something you can get through, though not without a lot of struggle.