I am so very sorry, Wendy. I truly think that with your intelligence, dedication and empathy you would make a great therapist. This sort of discrimination makes me very angry, especially as there are so many therapists, in the UK at least, that are barely competent, at best I know for a fact that you would do a great job, if they gave you a chance! Maybe you could try getting into a related field like counselling? Or are the same prejudices present there? (It wouldn't surprise me .....)
(I have a friend in the UK who is training to be a counsellor, and he has mental health problems, but he has only taken a one year course so far)

Grrrrrrrr!!!

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Wendy}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Love,
Fuzzy