Not all therapists seem to have the intention of imposing a penalty on people through these policies. Some may use a cancellation policy as a general guide to deter cancellations, then only bill people who abuse it.

I noticed that people often interchange acting like an *** hole and imposing a boundary (not here in particular, but anywhere). Someone gets in a car accident on the way to therapy and gets a bill in the mail for no-showing, or someone can't make it to session because a loved one died..then gets a bill in the mail. That would be incredibly callous, which is much different than upholding some kind of healthy boundary. This behavior can be very harmful to someone; anyone.

Healthy boundaries are often flexible, not rigid and unforgiving.