I hope this 'new field' continues to grow.

It is and isn't. There is a lot of pushback from the political and ideologues in the field, because psychology is basically a propaganda arm for the Progressive Movement, but there are genuine altruistic people going into the field every day and plenty of older folks who do only care about helping at the top. So despite the attempts to keep it on the downlow (you'll rarely read about it, or have it offered to you) it still exists and gets its name out there.

For a while now, I've had the notion that a good friend can do the job of a good therapist.

I think the lack of closeness is necessary for therapy to do its job where a friend can't. Your buddy you can call a fag and ignore him, but a trained professional (who you are paying, sunken cost fallacy and all) holds different weight. He also knows when to pounce and when to let off on what you say, how to manipulate you into running face first into the truth and admitting it, and how to de-escalate if stuff spirals out of control. A good friend can prevent the need like you say, but once its too late they are likely not enough to undo the damage alone.

One part of the man therapy process though is helping you gain the confidence to go out and involve yourself in these hobbies once the therapy ceases, which is how you gain a squad of good bros for life.

I wouldn't rely on it to be your ray of hope though. This is a bandaid for fixing broken men, but broken people will never be right again just better. We need to actually stop the problem at its source to get anywhere.