The average TV character endures a lot: affairs, breakups, shootings, car chases and alien abductions. They lie, steal, cheat -- and then they discover superhuman powers. Some folks lose their minds; others are lost in space. However you slice it, the worlds imagined by TV are trying and traumatic, and sometimes, after a season of grisly homicides or constant bullying at the hospital, you just need someone to talk to. Someone who will listen. Someone who will tell you, it's OK.

Here is a roundup of TV shrinks -- the listeners, the advice dispensers, the soothsayers with the vacant couch and the legal pad. Some are flesh and blood, one is animated, and one is even real. But the one thing they have in common is their commitment to mental health -- even if they're none too stable themselves.