[dtf]

A therapist can just be someone non-judgemental to talk to, most importantly one not tainted with any particular ties - be they familial, business or whatever. It's amazing how much you can get out of the simple act of talking through your thoughts with another human being who has no agenda other than what you've already seen on their rate card.

To use a programming related metaphor, it's a bit like rubber ducking (http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?RubberDucking), where a deep and difficult abstract problem can suddenly cease to be such during the mere process of explaining it to a stranger. Suddenly the faults in your own reasoning become obvious, and the very act of sharing what's troubling you makes it more concrete and approachable.