Therapists are like yogurt, they expire

I certainly became disillusioned with Madame T. But the change was in me, I think.

I would have to agree but they expire in two ways:

1. They expire as a therapist, and can indeed be expired even before you meet them!

These are the Ts who are suffering from burnout or have lost enthusiasm for the job and simply just don't care any more.

2. The therapeutic relationship expires.

These Ts can no longer help as your needs go beyond their expertise, they feel they have nothing new to offer the client, or they've just got too complacent and start cutting corners - late for appointments, checking their phone, yawning, picking their teeth, whatever.

I don't really think it can be said that the client expires in therapy, unless of course you count when the client no longer needs therapy and that is a good thing which is a sign of recovery and progress! But, until you get to that point (in my experience anyway) there is always something that can be worked upon to take you to the next level of recovery/wellbeing. However, the therapist just seems like...meh, I can't be bothered with this any more, and so they terminate and signpost elsewhere.

So in my experience, yes, therapists definitely DO go off.

Perhaps it's when the transference and counter-transference have become redundant, a bit like when people fall out of love?

An interesting idea.

In theory, a T is not supposed to experience countertransference in the first place. But if they do, and it wears off, that might lead to a souring of the relationship.