a friend of mine who is working as a therapist says she doesn't take any patients for more than half a year. if she can't help them in that time then she probably can't ever.

another reason to stay with a therapist is outside pressure. and sometimes talking to someone does help a little bit in that it has a noticeable effect without improving things to the point that help is no longer needed, but that potentially leads to a dependency which is not good either.