Therapy has most definitely improved my life. I've had several different T and they all used different approaches.
For me it depended on where I was in life too. Like my last T was a life coach, helping me to find successful ways of handling problems I was encountering - specific things like overcoming my fears so I could go to a grocery store, giving up friends that were distructive in my life, helping me keep one of my friends but changing our relationship so that my friend wasn't mandating to me.
She never told me what to do until the final couple of months when she had her own agenda and then I quit because it wasn't successful.
The T that I have now is one that supports long term therapy - where I just need someone to support and offer suggestions - no real goals.