Sunny, we talked about this a couple semesters ago in my ethics course. If I remember correctly, bartering is pretty rare, and is used in situations in which both psychotherapy and other services (such as repair services) are not readily available.

For example, since I live in the city and T lives in a city (different cities though), it wouldn't really work to say, "Hey T-- don't charge me for the next five sessions-- I will paint your entire house instead!" Aside from the fact that I would completely ruin his house because I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing, it wouldn't make sense because we are in an area, in which:

A. Psychotherapy is readily available.
B. I have funds for therapy, and he knows that.
C. Home painting services are readily available.

Any other way to look at this would be exploitative.

Pretend that T and I lived in Montana (not to offend anyone-- I just can't imagine there is a lot going on there). Perhaps T was really the only therapist around, and I didn't really have much money or health insurance... but I knew how to paint houses. Perhaps T needs his house painted and it is known that there is really no way to get such a service in the part of Montana that we live in. I think this example would be an example of bartering being appropriate.

So yeah. Maybe these are bad examples, but I'm trying, lol.