"nuts"

So often shrinks seem sort of "nuts" themselves. Yes, and this can be the case for a few different reasons. First off, many people who devote their life to studying and fixing psychological and emotional problems either had some struggles themselves (and possible still have some) or they grew up around people with screws loose and it bothered them so much that they decided they wanted to study why screws come loose and what to do about it. That's why they wanted to be a healer rather than physicist, a baker, a marine biologist or steel worker. The graduate programs do try to weed out the really obviously nutty ones, but you can't get into grad school or get through grad school without being a little off (obsessively-compulsively at least) as described above. Most counselor-types have tightened up their screws pretty well by the time they open up business. They have a lot to offer in the way of both experience and expertise. Some are at the very least good technicians and can help many people with most problems. Some... well, you know, there's a bad apple in most barrels of apples.

Another reason so many therapist types seem a little "nuts" is because they don't seem to conform to community standards of "normal behavior." This is because when you work day-in and day-out with people in agony because they're pounding their heads against brick walls made up of impractical "shoulds" and impossible "coulds," it gives you a distaste for doing things just because society and community tell you to. Also, when you routinely work with people in or just out of pain and terror, and regularly hear life stories of torture and trauma, it gives you a very different perspective on what's important to worry about in life. Some of the finest psychological minds I've known were very "unencumbered" by worries about social proprieties.