I'm glad this thread has been posted because the stories about how people felt uneasy after unproductive sessions really resonates with me. I actually consider more or less my whole therapy unproductive, and that was why I decided not to pursue it any longer in the end. Like stated by others, I regard this unproductive nature to my own patterns of not using therapy in a really therapeutic way. I used it more as a distraction from what I really needed to work on. It may have worked better with a T who really challenge and call me out on my BS and avoidance, but I did not get lucky to have one of those and then decided not to look for more. I found many other things that help resolve the issues I was avoiding, where I don't have the same attitude/behavior, and they pretty quickly turned out quite productive and satisfying - no uneasy, anxious feelings and a sense of wasting resources with those and most of them are actually free (peer support groups, working more closely with colleagues to achieve a better work discipline, better nutrition, sleep and general self-care for anxiety). But my issues are not trauma-related or anything hard to talk about that would require a high sense of safety and expertise. They are issues with motivation, discipline and some poor habits - these are all things that cannot be improved just by thinking, support and talking, I've done that for years and that was exactly the problem that fed the avoidance. They require strategy and hardcore lifestyle changes and no one else can do those for me. In fact, therapists ways of validating my poor habits and trying to make them look not as bad just added to the problem as well, it was enabling. Of course it feels unproductive then!