It depends on the MD and the needs of the person. The last time I was in therapy (about 10 years ago in Bklyn) I had a tremendous breakthrough regarding my relationship with my long-divorced parents, and I doubt I would've reached that well of pain and confusion on my own. It was cleansing, clarifying moment, and it helped me to get a handle on how to emotionally deal with two important people in my life (the process is ongoing). That said, my therapist was a Freudian and was very reluctant to let me leave once I got over the hump. She enjoyed the control, I think, as well as the bread. So I stopped going.
An ex-friend of mine is a psychiatrist, and I used to attend parties with MDs, dentists, and other professional med types. What a nasty crowd! Most were in it for the money, said awful things about their patients, drank heavily, did blow, speed (but little to no weed, I noticed -- too peaceful and introspective a drug?), fucked each other's wives, and all the rest. Some may have found it a swinging time, but I thought it was empty and horrid. Art and medicine do not mix!
DP