Good luck with your counselor If you don't like how it goes, ask for a different one, and if that doesn't work, there are other places that offer low-cost counseling that you might be eligible to get.

I also want you to know that it's a good idea to check information you get on public forums by contacting licensing boards. You can contact the licensing board of the state of your residence and they will explain to you exactly how the system works and what kind of work unlicensed therapists a.k.a interns do. I am saying this because on forums you will always come across people who are not informed on the subject because they are not professionals but they believe they know. They can confuse you and point you in the wrong direction, so it's always a good idea to contact regulatory agencies like licensing boards and professional associations to verify information you get on forums.

For example, many interns work as "volunteers" (meaning unpaid) in order to accumulate the required number of clinical hours to be eligible to take their licensure exam. They are not exactly "volunteers". They simply don't have any other way to collect their professional hours except to slave for an employer who takes advantage of their situation and uses them as slave labor. Those people are professionals, just like licensed therapists. They do the deep work and all other kinds of work that licensed therapists do. The type of work they and licensed therapists do depends on their chosen therapy method, not on the absence or possession of a license. So, they are not there just for emotional support. They provide 100% legitimate professional service. It cannot be otherwise because the hours they have to collect for the board exam are supposed to be the hours of professional service, not the hours of emotional support. If an agency uses interns for emotional support or other non-professional services, that agency is non-compliant with the legal and ethical requirements of the mental health care system and the interns who work there should report it to their licensing board. If their supervisor signs off on the hours they collected by providing a service which is different from their professional service, that supervisor would get in trouble if this gets reported. In other words, the system has regulations in place that ensures that you will get the same type of service from an unlicensed therapist as you'd get from a licensed one. The quality may not be the same, but the type of service will be the same.

You may PM me if you want more details about how the system works, and, again, I also recommend you to contact your state's licensing board for more information.

Most importantly, I agree with you that CAPITALISM SUCKS Can't wait to see it gone. Solidarity!