For sure. And I imagine it's a thankless job at times. Psychologists and Psychiatrists get a bum rap a lot of times. Always amazes me to hear criticisms to people not willing to try the techniques and advice given by their counselor/psychiatrist, who just immediately dismiss them AND their counselor/psychiatrist because it doesn't SOUND like it'll work. Of course, you see it in the medical profession a lot too; people discounting the advice from their doctor because of what they read in a magazine or saw online. My wife used to manage a private medical practice that had 3 doctors. They had a young patient come in in shock, they rushed him downstairs to the ER. Nearly died. Not only had the mother given him peanuts that she knew he was alergic too, she was ADAMANT and swore up and down that this reaction was NOT due to the peanuts. Why? Apparently some Dr. Oz episode talked about curing allergies by "cleansing and detoxing the body". And since she had followed Dr. Oz's advice, there's no possible way her son could have had a reaction to the peanuts. Amazing that if you're on TV, you suddenly have more credentials than a medical school graduate with potential residencies, board certifications, and experience.
As far as I know to this day she still thinks her kid didn't have a reaction. Her Doctor is just a quack and doesn't know any better! Dr. Oz though, he's the real deal! He cured her sons allergies by telling him to drink some herb or something!
I bring that up because, on occasion, people come to be after seeing a counselor or psychiatrist. The vast majority of any counseling I do is pre-marital or related to death and grieving (when I do a loved ones funeral). The latter is largely just listening to stories and asking questions about their loved one. The former is largely just asking questions and making sure the couple is prepared to take that step, and has put some real thought into it (amazing how many couples want to get married but have never even TALKED about kids, and find out that one wants several kids and the other wants none! And they were gonna get married without ever discussing it!). Once in a blue moon someone will call me because their doctor is a 'quack' and they want a 'Christian counselor'. If I do talk to them, I usually find that they got sound, professional advice- but usually advice that requires them to make some changes or do something themselves. What they were REALLY wanting, was someone to tell them everything is someone elses fault and that they just got dealt a bad hand!
