[crazygringo]

> There's no one to trust more than a good friend to be there for you when the ride gets bumpy, not some guy in a suit doing it for the money.

I couldn't disagree more.

Your good friend most likely doesn't have the slightest idea how to handle things if your trip goes south. Especially when they're on their own "ride". That's not to disparage anyone, but just to state the fact that there is training around these things that comes from lots of experience.

And therapists are not "some guy in a suit doing it for the money". You don't get rich doing psychotherapy -- you do it because you genuinely want to help people. And never in my life have I seen a therapist in a suit.

This isn't to say that every therapist is great or that every friend is terrible -- just that the relative success rates of being able to help someone on a bad trip, both during and after, are going to be a lot higher on the side of trained therapists. Because of the training.

[xterminator]

>Your good friend most likely doesn't have the slightest idea how to handle things if your trip goes south.

Yes they can, everyone experienced can. It's part of having empathy.

>Especially when they're on their own "ride".

The trip sitter doesn't trip while sitting.