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Originally Posted by Savage Clone
I only made that comparison because they both require a certain amount of "faith" and openness to the ideas being presented.
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I get your point in this sense. Psychological doctors help improve a patient's mental health largely when the patient is able to observe themselves more objectively while under the guidance of the physician. The sessions create an accountability to the doctor. This also is a principle which allows for brainwashing in organized religions and of course even more so in cults or sects. In that case the devotee becomes responsible and accountable to a group mindthink with a corresponding more vanilla outlook on life. The guidance is of the spiritual (too often based on fear, however) variety as opposed to the scientific variety. The devotee's membership is reinforced constantly. This is why many Baptist fundamentalist preachers will address their congregation members directly during services. It's also why your local cult down at the Holiday Inn conference room every Sunday or whatever will instantly name tag you and make sure you meet everyone in the room before you get out of said room.
Where I personally differ from what you express in the comment is that, in my view, there's nothing to "buy into" with psychology because true psychology, contrary to what some still believe, is not a pseudo-science, it is an actually proven art and science. Treatment that allows the greatest likelihood for sustained success most often depends on who your actual psychologist or psychoanalyst is more than anything else.
Psychologists allow the patient to unburden themselves through active listening. The progress comes from the patient themselves when they are ready to affect change in their behaviors. This allows the patient to have an opportunity to learn through self-knowledge and all the while being guided by sound principles by a person with a (hopefully) professional scientific background. However, far too often in my view, a psychologist will prescribe SSRI medications to alter a patient's brainchemistry. Unfortunately, the science behind the action of these agents is not really known. So, the doctor has to resort to trial-and-error concoctions to hopefully aid the patient. In the case of State or governmental agencies, which are there to help the ones in our society that cannot afford proper healthcare, this practice is rampant as a choice for treatment due to pressure to please the pharmaceutical lobbies. More often than not, the traditional role of the psychologist falls to the social worker who has little to no training and the likelihood of successful treatment dwindles accordingly. This is what most people unfortunatley know as psychology and it's not psychology performed on a truly professional level, so maybe that's part of the "buy into" you meant.