The 'mental health' professions were my original career path (well, clinical research, but anyway) and I worked with the patients as a research assistant and various capacities.
They do not help anyone. It is damage control. The 'manage' the cases, they do not 'fix'. This is the primary reason I left it.
I had a similar experience. At first I thought, they can explain the problems people have, but they can't really solve anything. Later I came to think, that the field is really just about rationalizing vice. Example: you feel guilty, you go to a psychologist and he makes it go away, by telling you that your guilt is just a relic of an outdated culture, rooted in Catholicism. Once you firmly believe that, then you are "cured!"
There's these "catholic" and "christian" psychologists running around and many of them may be well meaning, but my question is, why bother? If Catholicism is charged by God, with bringing the truth to the people, then should I reject that truth, because a few priests are bad? I don't think so. If psychology is charged by our ruling regime, with rationalizing fear, shame and guilt, so the people's consciences become seared, then should I accept that stuff, because a few psychologist seem like good guys? I don't think so!
Then there's the argument of desperation, claiming that nobody else is doing this. Well, that's just not true. The basic solutions to our problems can be found in, for example, the book, "My Catholic Faith." (a traditional explanation of the catechism, written and illustrated, at a school kid level, sold at angelus press for around fifty dollars, which is probably less money than one hour of "counseling").