I feel similarly. Sometimes the way people criticize the actions of T's reminds me of how people criticize parenting behaviors or strategies that "spoil" children. If you ever want to experience the unfettered judgment of total strangers, nurse your baby in public. Or pump your milk in a bathroom out of necessity. People have the most arbitrary beliefs about how to feed other people's children, like that children shouldn't nurse after 6 months.


This is not a thread about criticizing the criticism of T strategies, but in my field where people live in the chaos of poverty and often need greater assistance than legal paperwork and court arguments, public interest lawyers often feel free (and ethics don't prohibit social relationships) to assist their clients in many unorthodox ways. Old school legal aid offices in the 1960's and 1970's (before my time, but I have heard the stories) had social workers and others who could help with housing and clothing and meals etc, and public defenders paid bail for clients and let them crash on their couches.


Sometimes "unethical" judgments or people who complain about the "bad boundaries" of other people use it as an excuse to just not get involved with people who need help. I suspect it's that clients often need "unorthodox" help rather than T's engage in unorthodox behavior. I celebrate the willingness of any service provider to be willing to help in ways that are needed (as opposed to ways that dispense "charity" or otherwise glorify the help provider). I think you know the difference when you're on the receiving end.