If you&#x27;ve talked to enough of those trained professionals and if you&#x27;ve read the research their training is based on (and the research <i>about</i> that training), you&#x27;ll realize that quite a lot - if not most - of the therapeutic effect comes from the patient having someone to talk with about their problems. Which is something a caring local community leader can do as well. &#x27;mrrrgn knows some bad examples, I&#x27;ve personally seen some good - the heads of congregations in the religion I was raised in actually get something of a psychology training, though it&#x27;s not called such - rather, it&#x27;s just advice about talking and helping people in need. OTOH they&#x27;ll happily refer you to seek outside, secular psychological and psychiatric help as well.<p>Curiously, psychology itself was quite mixed with religion in the past; in some places, it still is. I remember reading Polish psychology texts as a kid, quite a lot of them had serious Catholic undertones (and sometimes explicit references). Which is sort-of understandable when you can count on religion as being an important part of your average person&#x27;s life.