AFOAF went through a tough time basically between the end of high school and a year out of college. Family stuff that was so hard to emotionally grasp and make sense of it absolutely paralyzed her. She went through many different forms of therapy; from affordable counselors, to a professor at her college (don't try that, they usually just want you to pay to be in a study), to a relatively average psychologist (~150/hr) who made her feel better able to cope with her mental state but did not provide her any tools to go beyond it.

Finally, when we moved to a larger area she found a first-rate CBT practitioner and the results were nothing short of outstanding. In less than 4 months she went from being completely dependant - afraid to drive a car, visit stores, or pretty much leave the house alone - to regaining her independence and returning to the person she was before everything happened. The downside was she had to wait 3 months for an opening and I believe sessions were in the neighborhood of 300$ and needed to be 2x a week at first if I remember correctly. Regardless it is the absolute best money she had ever spent, and was so much cheaper than the years of seeing a different psychologist who didn't help her move forward.

I guess the moral is if you are in a situation where you are incredibly anxious or depressed to the point where you feel it is irrationally preventing you from making progress or following through on things you want to do, CBT (from the right place) can change things you may have never thought possible.