Are there times when a therapist should not accept payment for a session?

I think the therapist ethically owes the client an admission and a refund if he's controlled by negative, destructive transference that poisons treatment.

I wonder if or how often a therapist has the self-awareness to know when his treatment is for his benefit rather than the client's.

Totally agree.

About the therapist knowing when it's for his benefit vs the client's… that is a great point. It would be nice if there could be some sort of metering device in the room that would calculate how much therapy each person got from the session. Maybe it would be 50/50 and then no money would change hands. Or maybe the therapist would pay the client.

Mine once didn't take payment when she had to cut a session short after just a quarter of a session because she unexpectedly was feeling very ill and nauseous. It turned out she was getting food poisoning. She looked green and I felt really bad that she was sick. I offered payment but she said no way. It felt natural and right with the payment issue.

I pay on a sliding scale, so it's different and goes to the agency that T2 works for. But one time my old T2 made the mistake of forgetting about my session. I drove all the way there and waited about 15-20 minutes. She apologized and said I didn't have to pay the next 2 sessions because of her mistake. Also when I needed an emergency session, she didn't ask for payment at that time either.

agreed...would love to hand my T an invoice for all the times i've T'd him