I sorry to hear that story. I too have had things like this happen. There is still enough stigma and misunderstanding about mental health to have medical care denied or botched by people who should know better. That is a social issue about changing attitudes toward mental health, not necessarily something specific to medicine. I've had police do really similar things also because they had backwards ideas about mental health. The answer is not get rid of police though. It is education and changing attitudes.

People with mental illnesses need talk therapy because the medications only is not viable as an option. And almost all the psychiatrists I know do talk therapy. It was the norm for a long time that psychiatrists engaged in talk therapy sometimes intensive kinds such as psychoanalysis. This has changed recently in the US, but it is still the case in other countries. And as mian pointed out many therapists who are not doctors are associated with medical schools or universities with strong research programs because the the powerful connection between medically based research and therapeutic developments. Plus someone has to teach psychology to the psychiatrists who otherwise learn by getting plopped into a locked ward, which is hardly the best model of training.

For people who do not have a mental health issue and still see a therapist, you are fortunate but perhaps unusually so. I am not sure that generalizations can be based on the exceptions though you are entitled to have your own views. Just saying that lots of people aren't this fortunate and so their therapy is hardly like getting spa treatment. Some people need surgery and lots of physical therapy. Some people need chemo. Not everyone has the luxury of just going in for a tune up or growth or whatever other reason.