I don't believe it has to be that way. Allowing them to be heard doesn't mean "giving them what they want". T will have seen this before.
Also sticking to the boundaries of the professional relationship doesn't mean "couldn't care less" about you. Having the therapeutic frame is important.

There is lots of black and white thinking in your post. I am not sure which side is black and which side is white. But those are two extreme points of view.
Life isn't about extremes at all. Bell curves of Everything show us that 99.9% of life is grey. Somewhere in the middle there is coexistence and mediums and even happiness.