I prefer client because I feel like it minimizes the implied power differential. My former T said she was an expert in psychology and I was the expert in my own life/experiences and we were working together to help me feel better. I really like that characterization, and it feels more like a "client" role than a "patient" role.

I don't think about it in terms of paying for a service necessarily, since I pay my doctors and my dentist for the services they provide to me as a patient, and I feel empowered to go elsewhere if I am dissatisfied, just like I would if I were dissatisfied with my T.

I do wish that article had gone a bit more into why one might want to do termination session(s). Processing the work we had together and saying goodbye was one of the most helpful things I did with my former T. Although admittedly, I was leaving because of life circumstances, not because I was dissatisfied. I did go through a period of time when I came close to terminating abruptly with my current T, though, and I'm glad I told her why I felt I had to leave because it turned out to be a solvable problem. I gained a lot of insight on the way to fixing what happened with her, and in hindsight I can see that I would have needlessly injured myself emotionally if I had just walked away.