Are There Boundaries Clients Shouldn’t Cross in Therapy?
Your therapist is trained and qualified to observe certain boundaries to protect you and your therapy. You have no such obligations as a client.
As to doing vs. just talking, many therapists will end a session if they feel threatened by you, if you seem to be escalating toward some kind of potentially dangerous blowup, or if in family or couples therapy you are acting in abusive ways toward a child or spouse.
I worked at several clinics with multiple offices. They were well-insulated and nobody could overhear normal conversations, but loud wailing and screams would reverberate everywhere. These were often during couples’ or family therapy. We had to head those off or stop them as quickly as possible because of potential upset to other patients —- even if screaming was therapeutic (it rarely is).
Since I did Family Court and child custody work, some of the noisiest sessions came from my office. Not often, because I always had a “work contract” with clients and litigants that included a “sound privacy” provision. Still, there were times I had to end a session. If it was a high conflict couple, I’d have them leave separately, five minutes apart, to avoid further confrontations in the clinic or parking lot.
In general, though, don’t hold back about what you might say or ask with your therapist, and behave the way you would behave in any professional office.