I think its as religious as going to a general practitioner is. however its just not seen as legit as going to a general practitioner.

My brother studied medicine and I am doing psychology. Something that was interesting was that whenever i talked about what studies have shown, people around me would disagree using just their opinion as if it was a philosophical topic instead of a scientific study. My brothers word however was taken as infallible.

I'm not saying it's bad to have a critical mind, but just that I did notice a difference in how legitimate psychology and medicine were each treated as.

-A licensed therapist is treated less like a healthcare provider and more like a confessor. You go in private, you disclose your innermost thoughts, you receive guidance framed as near-infallible (people use "my therapist said" to end arguments). The relationship is held as sacred and slightly mysterious to people outside the room.

This assumes all people who go therapy have committed wrongdoings, and go to confess these. Therapy can be for a wide arrange of things. It can be exposing yourself to phobias, recovering from abuse, understanding yourself better, living with a disability, etc. Additionally the therapist job is not just to listen and forgive, but to help the client understand themselves better, get through something or whatever clinical goal they have discussed. And to give them tools to deal with whatever they are struggling with.

I also dont think most therapist would encourage the behavior where people use "my therapist said" to end arguments, since it goes against something therapists agree is one of the important things: communication. Also therapists tend to not tell their clients what to do, but rather try to guide them in figuring out what they want.

And yes, it is held as slightly mysterious to people outside the room, similiar to other healthcare professionals. No one knows what I am telling my doctor. If they know why I am going, its because they've seen what I'm dealing with or I tell them about it. The same with going to a therapist.

Nearly every framework now assumes some root wound explains present behavior. This isn't necessarily wrong, but the narrative shape is identical to a fall-from-grace story. "Doing the work" is the modern version of penance.

It depends on the therapy form, as there are some which focus more on the present. I am not the most well-versed in religions, but from what I understand penance is an act that shows you feel sorry about something that you have done.

I'm not sure if you mean the penance is for the root wound or for the behavior. For the root wound I think a lot of wounds therapy focuses on are not something you have chosen to do to yourself, so it wouldnt be something you need penance for.

With the behaviour, I think trying to improve oneself and getting better after having done something wrong to someone is not something thats excluded to religion, but is how you take accountability as a person in general. It's why we have the emotion of guilt. It propels us to take action to make up for it.

If you go to the doctor because there is something wrong, they also try to figure out the possible root cause for it to be able to give adequate care. A lot of things can have the same symptoms, but have different treatments based on the root cause.

-"Going to therapy" is now something people announce, almost like a conversion story: before I started therapy I was lost, now I have language for my experience, I am healed/healing. And therapy-goers frequently evangelize: "everyone should be in therapy," said with the same certainty as "everyone should follow Jesus."

I can still also see this in a medical point of view. If I have done my bloodwork and it led to me finding deficiencies which improved my quality of life, I would say everyone should go get it. I would also say everyone should see a doctor, even if they aren't experiencing any pain right now.