I think it's haphazard/waste of time when there isn't an element of empathy, which often requires 'active' listening..
Kdude, sorry to hear that. Some psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and counselors, people, for whatever reason, have a stick up their u know what because they get so entangled with the process of therapy that they forget to tailor the art of just being themselves. So this anal retentive process gets hindered by falsely analyzing other people's problems by projecting their own unresolved issues onto others.
I think there are great therapists/psychologists out there- especially working with child psychology, development/learning, cognitive/humanistic psychologists, and social workers, counselors who really do unerstand.
Then, there are one's like Dr. Phil, who actually lost his liscence for mal-proactice, but then maintains his entertainment biz, bc of pr. Anyway, deep listening/empathy are key in this kind of profession.. it's a huge part of validating people's experiences in order to get to the big picture in an unconditional/accepting kind of way.