Tony
Is GPS required for every little flight that ever takes place?
It's a matter of choice.
For me, I'd always have it running in the background, even on a simple x-country in good weather to comewhere I've been before and I was just using a line on a chart and pilotage as primary nav.
Why? The NRST and DCT functions reduce your workload if something goes wrong and you need to find an airfield ASAP.
Also, if you have to force land in a field, it's handy to be able to give a precise location to the emergency services (even some mobile phones can now do this.)
It's not, for me, a matter of being risk averse (since light aviation is not a risk averse occupation), more a matter of sensible risk mitigation.
As to whether your friend is on top of the situation, I don't know, but managing 2 x GPS, 2 x VOR and a chart never overloaded me, it helped me look out more as I was more certain of position and proactively managing it, not heads down worrying about busintg CAS or a danger zone.
Anyways, enjoy your flying, hope your comeback works out well.