Have you ever wondered about this? I actually started to think about this once I saw the thread about similarities between therapists and priests (http://forums.psychcentral.com/psych...riesthood.html).

I remember somebody asking a famous professional athlete (can't remember the name now), what would you do if you could not, say, be a basketball player and the guy said right away he would have tried another professional sport. I think therapists too would want to be in professions that help people. But I think they want to provide the close, one-on-one, very personal kind of help, and maybe they even "need" to do this (likely not as much as a client needs to see a therapist).

But to sit there, day after day, hour after hour, deal with one client after another, and not burn out or go crazy, to walk through the minefield of triggers and so much pain, it takes a special person with great motivation for this kind of work. I don't know what other profession can give them exactly this. Or maybe I'm reading too much into this...