I disagree with the bolded part. If it was related to my past as a general pattern, I would likely experience it more often in my life with people, and this is definitely not the case. I've had many very authentic relationships. It's hard for me to expect much authenticity in therapy because the whole things is so limited and has such an unnatural structure. Plus, how can someone be truly authentic if they are not supposed to bring their feelings and strong opinions into the relationship, when they use learned techniques to interact?

My last T was actually very open about this and discussed with me multiple times how the way Ts advertise themselves and the image they transmit is a marketing strategy, and they adjust their behavior based on what the client wants them to be. He told me simple examples for it also, like how he would say that he has a certain political orientation when the client is very adamant about it. They can explore the expectation if there is a need for it but he said there is always a lot of conscious adjustment and design. My first T was much more spontaneous, expressed a lot of his momentary feelings, and it definitely did not help my therapy.