My Position Statement on Content Posts

Kathleen Mills of PracticeMentors.us

I penned a post recently that elicited quite a response and some very emotional opinions, and I'd like to address that because there are more of them coming! Please allow me to set the table first.

My Position Statement

I am a liberty-loving, true conservative. I have always believed that the preservation of our liberties, (primarily) through the political sphere, is what will enable me to pursue that which I am passionate about; the mental health of our clients.

I believe that those three areas of influence (Our Profession, Our Liberties, National and State Politics) on our lives are inextricably linked and should be included in these conversations where necessary to support or debunk an argument. (Try talking to another counselor about "mandates in your practice" and see how long it takes before your liberties and politics enter the conversation. It has to happen.) Without our liberties it will be difficult if not impossible to accomplish our professional objectives.

My Position Statement | PracticeMentors

The PracticeMentors' Objective

If you're familiar with my story then you'll already know that my ultimate objective(s) with our content is to, "Protect, Equip, and Defend mental health counselors from any form of attack on them, their practice, and their families". Up until about 18 months ago that content directive was fairly simple to achieve.

Things have changed. Something is not right on a very large, national scale. One has only to listen to the radio to hear that large numbers of other people are feeling the same way.

Our mission has scaled itself up to include threats to our profession from sources not traditionally, or comfortably, within just the mental health community. Now our mission is to, "Protect, Equip, and Defend mental health counselors from any form of attack on them, their practice, and their families, including the erosion of God-given, personal liberties, impacting our ability to practice in an optimal manner".

Going forward I refuse to ignore the 800lb gorilla(s) in the room, whatever form it may take, simply because it hasn't been socially or professionally acceptable to do so in the past. That's the kind of thinking that provides cover for the erosion of our liberties through the political sphere, and I believe it is irresponsible of us not to openly discuss it.

Should I Be Writing "Political" Posts?

I am NOT interested in running a political blog. That's not the PracticeMentors mission and these are not "political posts". They are posts that look at a topic and consider it from several different angles, including how it affects our liberties, the prevalent political points-of-view, and how that might affect our profession.

Nor am I willing to allow any public pov that will erode my liberties and negatively impact my practice to go unchallenged. Frankly, I will not be bullied by any faction that attempts to shame me into, "staying in my lane", in order to silence my voice. If their motives and tactics are honorable they have nothing to worry about. If not, here we come.

Civility and Our Profession

I believe it was the a movie from the '60's with Paul Newman, "Cool Hand Luke", in which he expressed a symptomatic issue when he said, "What we have here is failure to communicate".

What we've apparently lost in our society is the ability to do that in a civil, fact-based manner. Views that are long-held are now met with triggered emotional responses or worse. Compound that with a growing national feeling of distrust towards previously relied upon information sources and you get confusion and then fear, and here we are. We can do better.

The Reader's Glasses

I write our content with an eye towards, "how does this affect my profession and how I deal with my clients". Sometimes that leads me to discuss eroded liberties and what's driving the politics behind it.

I invite your feedback, especially if it's different from mine! A lot of people read these posts each week and I'm not naive enough to think that everyone agrees with every point I make.

If, however, your position requires the erosion or elimination of my God-given liberties then, yes, we're going to have a spirited discussion. Let's discuss it like rational adults through the comment section of the post so that other readers might benefit from our engagement as well. I respectfully ask that you support your position with facts and links as best you can determine them in today's information environment. That's all I can do as well. If we both do that, we'll eventually get to the truth!

Summary

I'm not apologizing for bringing Liberties and Politics into the discussion. I'm explaining why I believe it's necessary. It directly affects my ability to practice!!

I want to be on the side of history that fought for an individual's rights and liberties; the side that did it in a professional, legal, responsible manner that promoted my chosen, loved profession.

Now that you know what drives our content focus, I look forward to talking with you in the Comments. On the vast majority of points I don't think most of us are that far apart. We have far more in common than not.

And now you know.

Plan Smart. Be Safe. Serve Others.

Kathleen Mills, LPC-S, CEAP

My Position Statement | PracticeMentors

Got An Opinion?

This post is my opinion based on almost 30 year practice as a mental health provider. Whether you agree or disagree, please feel free to leave your civil, constructive comments below. You do not need to be logged in to leave a comment.

About Kathleen Mills

Kathleen Mills is a fire-breathing, 30+ year veteran of the counseling world. A tireless warrior for the profession, her goal with PracticeMentors.us is to bullet-proof the counseling profession so that what happened to her doesn't happen to you!

4 Comments

  1. Kristen Turner on August 14, 2021 at 7:30 pm

    Thank you for your clarification and helping outline the feedback guidelines. I am thankful for the platform to discuss these issues with other professionals keeping our ethical framework as the back drop. I have been so grateful to continue to see clients in person using safety protocols that work for both me and my clients and accomodating other clients through virtual sessions. I look forward to continuing to read a constructive and respectful discussion in the comments. Thank you for fighting for our liberties to practice and care for our clients.

    • Kathleen Mills on August 16, 2021 at 9:55 am

      What a sweet comment! Thank you for clearly recognizing our purpose.

  2. Gerald DeSobe Ph.D. on August 13, 2021 at 4:43 pm

    A basic rule in the healthcare professions is “do no harm.” Your statements encourage people to perform very risky behavior by ignoring an illness that has undeniably killed millions of people around the world. In terms of liberty , we all consent to take professional exams, get contouring education and follow ethical guidelines and don’t feel that our liberty is threatened. As an earlier responder noted, your brand has been irreparably tarnished and to say your blow is not political is foolhearty.

    • Kathleen Mills on August 16, 2021 at 10:09 am

      How ethical is it for us to believe our government, their handlers and enablers, when they themselves are directly responsible for the deaths of many people by withholding low cost, safe and effective treatments while at the same time pushing the public into an experimental shot? Happy to talk “ethics” if you like.

      “Do no harm” also means giving people options so they themselves can determine what is right for them. (This is the classic, “individual rights and liberties” vs “group herd mentality argument”. Tyrants always prefer the latter.) We have plenty of effective treatments that could have been used from the get-go. Why force a vaccine when off-the-shelf medications work better? You have to ask yourself about this stuff and not blindly follow the talking TV heads.

      In graduate school we were taught a myriad of theories (options) in order for us to to determine the optimal treatment for the clients we serve. They taught us to look at, and research everything to find the best set of solutions to give our clients. To say one POV (yours!) fits all, lacks the “research and ask questions” mindset which I believe factors into the state of confusion this world is in. We’ve lost our critical thinking skills.

      As counselors and psychologists we have always had good conversations and discourse about a myriad of things. Why is this different? Why tell me to be quiet, and not share another side of the coin? How is a rational discussion of all sides of a very serious argument, not rational or responsible?

      I’m open to intelligent, rational discussions but as I state in my comment guidelines, statements that are one-sided, shaming, or downright hateful aren’t going to be received well. You don’t have to agree with me, just be civil.

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