> CBT as proposed and studied in lab settings can't really be applied in the wild like most evidence based therapists try to,
Because that part is wrong, apart from the underlying inner working being dissected in labs (the cognitive science part), the therapy part it is well studied in the wild - and it works.
> and the results of therapy I come across always seem extremely underwhelming.
So you mean anecdotes? Of course you recognize the underwhelming results - the people where it worked well are less noticable, by definition.
> Maybe for some cases like severe phobias there is something to be solved, but do we really need to be paying thousands of dollars a year
That you have to pay money has been a decision of the society you reside in. It doesn't have to be this way, and in fact it isn't in most industrialized countries.
> for a therapist to say "hey, maybe if you'd invest more in hobbies, social relationships and a healthy lifestyle you would feel better"?
Because that part is wrong, apart from the underlying inner working being dissected in labs (the cognitive science part), the therapy part it is well studied in the wild - and it works.
> and the results of therapy I come across always seem extremely underwhelming.
So you mean anecdotes? Of course you recognize the underwhelming results - the people where it worked well are less noticable, by definition.
> Maybe for some cases like severe phobias there is something to be solved, but do we really need to be paying thousands of dollars a year
That you have to pay money has been a decision of the society you reside in. It doesn't have to be this way, and in fact it isn't in most industrialized countries.
> for a therapist to say "hey, maybe if you'd invest more in hobbies, social relationships and a healthy lifestyle you would feel better"?
That is a strawman, not CBT.