The Poster Child For "Rolling Stones"

Many of you have been watching a famous show of a father receiving "therapy" to fix his life because of having 34 children. The goals of the mental health provider for the father was not accomplished if we are really honest. Yes, it increased the television ratings for the host, but as a licensed mental health therapist I honestly believe it produced more pain than healing. The oldest daughter of the father with 34 children was so on point in the letter she wrote the person that tried to fix her father. Her words, "Thank you for fixing my Father, You have done a remarkable job in helping him to feel better about himself, while unfortunately further enabling his false sense of reality."

Situations like this hurts me to the core. It is very difficult for me to watch and know people are trying to provide therapy or coaching services who has never been trained and licensed to do so. This goes to clergy or anyone who thinks they know what they are doing, because they have been put in the position to provide feedback. They lack the understanding the harm they can cause others emotionally and mentally, although their true desire is to help. We need more people to help those with mental and emotional issues, but we need to make sure the provider has documentation to provide it. If they are not wiling to take the steps to become licensed they need to select a different career or refer people out.

This is for the school system too. It breaks my heart to know most of those "counselors" are not licensed to address the mental or emotional disorders of students. Anyone with a master degree can take a test provided by the school system and become a "counselor." They don't have to go through a license process (counseling degree, pass test, 3 years internship and many hours of supervision) like medical doctors and licensed mental health providers. I'm still wondering why we have school counselors in the schools? They may need to change it to school career coaching and get people in schools who know how to deal with children who suffers with ADHD, bipolar, major depression, or anything mentally and emotionally preventing students from thriving. We are harming our babies all in the name of saving money, lack of knowledge, and ignoring the true needs of our students.

Ok, let me get back to the purpose for this post. I only saw a small clip of the father with 34 children being fixed on Facebook and commented that the father did not understand the harm or the role he really played and needed therapy to address the lies he believed (cognitive behavior therapy). The approaches provided and different elements being ignored concerning the father during the different interactions increased my dissatisfaction for the show. I was hoping the person could prove my theory wrong because she does have the passion to help, pour out great wisdom on her Facebook page, and appears to be a down to earth person. I respect her 100% and love a lot of things she is trying to bring to the light on her show. Nevertheless, I strongly believe the government needs to step in and prevent people who are not trained and licensed to do mental health therapy, starting with the school system. I'm grieving for this family, especially his 34 children. However, I'm thankful his oldest daughter was provided a platform to express her true feelings and my hope is that she take the appropriate steps to heal. Read her letter HERE

Something to Think About?

How many of you will let someone operate on your body who only can tell you how they think it needs to be done only because they have few life experiences, popular, wrote books, preached about it or have the ability to draw large crowds (charismatic), but never was trained or been tested to confirm they really know what they are doing or confirm their services? Most will not - So why will we take counsel from people for our emotional and mental state when we know there is no evidence they know what they are talking about? Don't become confused and think people know what they are doing because they have a great memory and read books to increase their wisdom.  If you need wisdom read Proverbs and the book of James. If you are emotionally and mentally sick please seek appropriate help God crafted especially for you, licensed mental health professionals. Contact your insurance provider - they usually can provide you with a list of people to select from.  Go through all of them until you find the one you like, but know everyone needs their own therapist.

Related article: I Need Therapy, But Not Sure How To Select One...