I agree with you entirely that therapy is often not the answer, but part of the problem is the inadequate training of most mental health clinicians. As a practicing child psychologist for 40 years, and a former internship director and faculty member at a PhD program, I have always stressed the need for all mental clinicians to have a solid background in normal child development. Some of the most important aspects of my own training were courses in early language development and masters degree in child before starting a clinical program. I also point out that the best child psychiatrists I have ever worked with also had backgrounds in early education or child development before starting medical school. A few PhD programs such as Michigan State have a child track that requires a full year of graduate level courses in normal human development but most psychology programs dont do that. Without this training, I see clinicians who simply diagnose, refer for medicine or prescribe, and offer non-specific psychotherapy. With this kind of background in child development, one is better able to talk with parents about the developmental stage their child is in, what they need to thrive and how to structure that within their community environment. Usually pediatricians are much more aware of normal development, not so with mental health professionalsl