Professionalized is a good term. > I see it as a positive thing that there are those who have specialized in it, and that it's a resource you can get. That is

Professionalized is a good term. > I see it as a positive thing that there are those who have specialized in it, and that it's a resource you can get. That is a positive thing but historically we haven't needed to turn to professionals for that resource. It's been provided, gratis, by community leaders and elders for most of human history. I see reliance on professionals for this sort of thing as a major negative. I'd argue that it reduces a community's ability to produce that resource for itself. Like this: > And unlike your friends circle, they're paid to be objective about it, to solve the problems rather than remain your friend. If you rely on a therapist to be objective with you, you don't need your friends to be, and you don't need to be that friend to other people. You can just tell them, "go to therapy, it's really helped me!" and be done with it... Maybe I'm taking something different away from your post above than what you actually meant. I see people talking about therapy as a way of maintaining mental fitness, rather than treating mental illness, and that bothers me. A bit of a rambling post, but I hope you catch my drift.