I think it is natural for many people to try to trust and not to question an "expert" we decide to use, until they prove unreliable or worse. I have never trusted/followed anyone blindly but, with professional services I decide to use, I am typically very open-minded initially and do not scrutinize them until there is a reason. Same with therapy: I went into it with a great deal of curiosity and openness to pretty much anything. It'd narrowed down and turned into a lot of skepticism gradually, based on my experiences and all the stuff I hear about therapy here on PC and elsewhere. I'd tried with both of my Ts for a bit less than a year each before I eventually made the conclusion that the whole thing just wasn't for me.

I think there are many therapy clients who progress in the opposite way: initially have problems trusting/talking and open up gradually. I believe this type of attitude depends on our personalities and individual histories. I don't usually take authority without the person's demonstrating competency (credentials, fame etc do not impress me much) in something reliably but do not criticize something by default either. I'm pretty much the same way in my work relationships. It is tricky with healthcare though (both physical and mental) as we usually want to feel better ASAP or at least learn something useful, we want to gain and can overlook often pretty obvious red flags. If, in the unlikely case I would ever engage in therapy again and were to interview my two ex-Ts now, I most definitely would not hire either and would know much better what to look for and how. I guess at least I've learned quite well what does not work for me and what sort of help might be more useful, would not be open in a way "let's try and see what happens".