Both of my therapists had their initial degree in social work, one with a masters and the other with a PhD. They also have other qualifications and training. I know many psychologists via my own work, some do research, others purely clinical practice, and some both. I never really saw a correlation between their qualities and their degrees. Perhaps there is in a younger population that just completed degrees, but for people that have been working for >15 years, I think what primarily matters is their individual quality, skill set, and ability to self-train and learn from their experiences. I've experienced some power struggle with the PhD, which was coming from both of us, I think. I've been doing academic research in my whole career so far (close to 20 years) and have high quality standards when it comes to assessing and interpreting, and presenting things. Subjectively, I often found my Ts approaches sloppy and more self referential than looking at the "material" out there. So we would get into arguments around these things. Never happened with the other T that has a MA degree and some background in academic research similar to mine, but I don't think it has to do with his training per se, much more personal qualities, a more open mind, and respectfulness. And I find some of the psychologists I know via my work quite arrogant and not so good with people at all.

So, in general, what makes a real difference IMO is not formal training but individual qualities and experience. For me, that is the basis of trustworthiness and competency, not degrees and schools. Looking at credential is good as a first impression but I want to evaluate them based on my own experience. I also met people without any formal degree that knew more about human nature and were more able to understand and work with diverse sets of people than anyone else I've known with elite degrees and education.

As for the off-beat, dry and dark sense of humor, I also appreciate that and can connect with people that way when I choose to. But I don't always see it as a sign of higher level of intelligence when it comes to self-awareness and confidence. I think often it's a defense and avoidance strategy for many that have the knowledge and intellectual confidence to twist things in interesting ways, it can be applied to cover up insecurities. I personally learned to appreciate more a style when someone will openly say when they don't know or are unsure about something, have the courage to admit failure etc. It's not mutually exclusive of course, just saying that I would see it more as a red flag of a therapist used dark humor too much with clients, however enjoyable.