[gerbilly]

Ha thanks, I love a good argument.

>Putting aside the fact that your example isn't actually an insight

So put it aside then, and think of your own better analogy. It changes nothing from the point I was making.

> the "insights" produced in therapy are supposed to lead to change largely on their own.

No one has believed this in a long time.

> I prefer to solve my problems instead of trying to trick myself into thinking they're not what they are.

So do I but sometimes things break, permanently.

I can't bring dead people back to life, if I'm injured or disabled by an accident I can't 'fix' that, but I can find a way to change how I relate to that unfix-able problem. This goes beyond re-framing, of course.

As to childhood experiences and trauma, they are real and often elicit means of coping which later become ingrained habits which can cause dysfunction later on.

Therapy can help you recognise these (insight!) and then start you on the long slow path of unlearning them so they don't cause you problems anymore.