> A community. And the friends that come with it. You make it sound like a therapist doesn't do any work, they just get paid to sit there and socialize. There'

> A community. And the friends that come with it. You make it sound like a therapist doesn't do any work, they just get paid to sit there and socialize. There's a huge amount of emotional labor for therapists, like building trust with people whose stories they can't naturally empathize with. A lot of people need someone to just unload on (which, incidentally, is part of trauma recovery). If you do that to your friends, time after time, you lose your friends pretty quickly. That's (among other reasons) why therapists deserve to be paid for their work. You're right that a community and friends (really, social connections) are key to good long-term mental health. But a lot of people get into a place where they no longer have that, or the community and friends they have are detrimental to their mental health (consider: LGBT people in ultra-conservative religious communities). No therapist can replace a community and friends, but they can be that "I'm not going to give up on you" (because payment) level of "friend" (airquotes because payment) to help you find those social connections.