I don't see any dependency in proper therapy, as addiction as a concept is applicable only when there is harm involved. And I reserve exploitation, which does happen in therapy, to financial (as in hey client, give me a loan or join me in this business venture) or to sexual. A person who pays for a service is not being exploited, as long as they get what they pay for.

I think the person who needs emotional attention is an ordinary human being. Nothing wrong with seeking the attention of a therapist for a therapy session and the people who have no to little emotional support elsewhere perhaps are those who need it the most. If the therapy is not harmful to the person-- if they are not scraping together their last pennies and starving their children so they can afford therapy, if they are not suffering as a result of it-- I don't see how that is "addiction" even if you assume that the emotional attention is all the person gets. Otherwise I'm addicted to fresh watermelon and swimming laps in the pool. In my world, people are supposed to do what feels good to them, whether they pay for therapy or sacro-cranial massage or an eyeshadow set. If someone is enjoying the attention that is obviously a part of therapy and forming a social connection that may help them generate that in real life, that's good in my book. Much better that the suffering caused by being alone, being institutionalized in a mental health hospital that is hardly different from a prison, or a mentally ill person ending up in jails and prisons.

I don't believe in the concept of addition to therapy unless the client is being harmed by it. I don't doubt that some people are harmed by therapy and that addiction is some form might keep them there. If they really can't afford it but are addicted, or if their lives are suffering in any other way by going to therapy, then I hope they can find a way out. I guess I feel pretty confident that most adult people in therapy can decided for themselves whether it works and can stop if they feel they don't benefit from it. I don't think anyone else can judge whether someone else's therapy works for them.

But if people are going to therapy and it benefits them in whatever way makes sense to them, I hope they continue to use it. It's actually rational to do things that make you feel good, so I keep buying local watermelon and using my pool pass. And going to therapy, and the mere fact that I keep going to therapy is not evidence of my addiction, but proof that I am taking the best care of myself that I can.