People see a therapist for lots of reasons-- for instance, I know in general that what I experience leads me to be sometimes disrespectful, perhaps downright rude, if the work is going to get done. The work is more important than upholding social constructs, though I would also argue that as long as the client is paying what is owed and being responsible about showing up and following the cancellation policy, that constitutes respect.

And then, there are situations as well where an initially "respectful" relationship becomes complicated. I don't think a therapist inherently deserves respect. For me respect is earned and can also be lost.

I also don't think being friendly/fond necessarily equates to respect. I can think of plenty of times where someone has been respectful of me without all the positive emotions, also the reverse, where someone has been very fond of me but CERTAINLY did not respect me. I do in fact love my therapists, consider us to have "real relationships," etc, and it's an interesting angle to work from, but I think the process can be just as effective without.