On the spectrum of human interactions, I'd put therapy pretty far along toward the aberrant end of things. Paying someone to dispense emotions, or insight about your life and your feelings, that's out there. Plus the forced seclusion... therapy is separate from the rest of life, literally. And all the dogma and jargon and orthodoxy, and the guru-disciple role playing. There are obvious associations with cults and religious sects. There is also parent-child role playing, which is even encouraged in some cases.

Pretty bizarre stuff when you hack away all the camouflage.