Counselors unite! It's time to take our profession back. Actually, I don't believe we've lost it, yet, but it is under attack by a very well-organized, very vocal minority of social-justice counselors. We're in a Culture War.

They've made inroads because the Silent Majority (that's us) has been doing what we do best...keeping our nose to the grindstone, taking care of business, and not paying attention to what's going on in the political sphere. You know what I'm talking about.

Counselors Unite: We Got This!

As this year has unfolded it has become abundantly clear to us that those of us who hold a certain set of personal beliefs and professional values are not represented by the "leading" professional organizations. I firmly believe that 75-85% of all licensed counselors agree with that statement and, like us, list their status as "homeless" when asked about their professional affiliations. We've hinted several times over the past three months about something we've been working on and, so, today I'd like to tell you a little bit more about what we're planning.

What's the Next Step?

We're going to start our own association specifically targeting like-minded counselors who don't feel the current groups represent their core beliefs.

Some of the value-benefits to being a member will include:

• It's going to be inexpensive to join.
• It will provide a validating home for "non-Approved Provider" ce providers to whom the Standards Committee and your Board assigned little value.
• We'll feature a growing "CE Marketplace". Think of it as a directory of like-minded ce providers.
• A complimentary, 3 Hour "Cultural Diversity" course that focuses on the differences between geo-cultures and not on sexual dysphoria issues.
• It will feature a lot of original content including niche podcasts and blog posts.
• We'll be doing value-rich webinars frequently.
• Social outings (Group Therapy) for like-minded counselors.
• An annual conference that focuses on your practice and the well-being of your clients, not on the sjw agendas.
• Unlimited access to a members directory for easy referral opportunities.
• A searchable Supervisor database for recent grads and associates in need of a new supervisor.

Practice Tools you can use right now including:

• An EHR Platform-Exclusive discounted subscription pricing to members.
• A HIPAA Compliance Partner Program.
• Custom Website Development & Hosting Services

And a couple more items we're working on.

We'll be adding more value as we gain input from our members and we'd like you to be one of them.

Why Are We Doing This?

I think our Value Statement sums it up rather well so I'll share that with you right now:

The AMHP was founded for three reasons:

1. To foster a community environment in which like-minded counselors may find much needed peer-support for their beliefs and their practices.
2. To provide validation and support for independent ce providers.
3. To create an environment, a CE Marketplace, in which our licensee-members may complete their required renewal hours from approved and independent providers.

We Believe...

1. There is a need to bring quality ce providers and licensees together; that most mental health professionals feel inadequately represented in their core personal and professional beliefs.
2. That the quiet majority are morally grounded, God-fearing people desiring only information, community, resources and hope, to continue their good work without being asked to sacrifice their foundational beliefs in the name of "progress".

Summary

Our current professional organizations have lost their way and I don't see them correcting course anytime soon. Even our own boards don't take individual voices into account (convince me otherwise), you have to belong to a group large enough to make them nervous before they'll listen. Every licensed professional is a "stakeholder", but when they say "stakeholder", they don't mean you, the individual. They mean one of the major association groups. It stinks but that's the game they want to play.

So, game on. We're going to build our own house and call it, the Association for Mental Health Professionals; "AMHP" for short. Time for all of us to pay a little more attention to what's going on in our profession, outside our office walls, and play their game better than they do. Yeah, this may ruffle some feathers but playing nice isn't working. Time for the Mother Bears to unite.

We're working on infrastructure issues now and putting some "people pieces" in place behind the scenes in anticipation for an official launch sometime in January.

How fast we grow and how much impact we have will depend entirely upon you and your involvement.  I'd like to know if this sounds like something you'd like to be associated with so please scroll down and let me know in the comments below.

Plan Smart. Be Safe. Serve Others.

Kathleen Mills, LPC-S, CEAP