The AMHP Blog Post Archive
Today we’ll be addressing the coalition letter. Let’s look at the claims made in the letter issued March 3rd, 2026 by the “coalition” of professional organizations who disagree with the TX AG Office’s Opinion (KP-0518). Addressing The Coalition Letter They claim the following: 1. “The services in SB14 (88R) that are expressly prohibited to be performed by the health care provider are explicitly associated with the treatment of physical health that are outside the scope of practice for any mental health care professional.” That’s actually a true statement. No one is expecting or requiring a mental health counselor to do any surgical procedure. But simply stating that counselors aren’t surgeons doesn’t mean that licensed mental health counselors aren’t “health care…
Was going to do an overview on TX AG Ken Paxtons Opinion KP-0518, what it says and how it ties previous Opinions and Bills together. A poster in one of the Facebook groups made it easy for me! I realized after I finished responding that I had just penned my overview so here it is, and I’ll begin with a quick review of the opinions and bills I’m referring to. The Pieces on the Board Ken Paxton’s Opinion from 2022 (KP-0401) equated GAC with child abuse under Texas Family Code § 261.001. SB12 (2025) prohibits that initial segment of the transitioning, the “social transitioning” that sets a kid up for the “physical transitioning” portion of the gruesome process. SB14 (2023)…
Rick McCarthy’s Public Comments Good afternoon, my name is Rick McCarthy, LMFT, a former Subject Matter Expert and Oral Examiner for this Board. In 2003 this Board discontinued the oral examination, and California eliminated its only direct method for assessing applied competence at the point of independent licensure for LMFTs. This is the pivotal motivation that compelled me to advocate to reinstate the oral exams. Public Safety is Our Primary Objective Given my experience as an examiner, I am in a unique position, professionally and historically, to assess the level of competency in our profession. Since 2003, many of my professional colleagues and I have noticed a consistent increase of intakes complaining about the incompetence and unprofessional treatment with more…
Kathleens Public Comments Many counselors we know are having trouble filling their calendars and making ends meet and we’ve identified several compounding reasons: 1. Inflation has reduced discretionary money for self-pay clients. 2. Deductibles are still through the roof. 3. EAP’s paying poorly, not keeping up with inflation, and even cancelling providers for imaginary future offenses. 4. The vertical consolidation of healthcare and the turn to AI and Headway style programs that don’t pay well. 5. Unprofessional online activity by activist licensees witnessed by the public, resulting in… 6. A seismic lack of public trust. Guilt by Association and the PR Problem Our profession has a massive public relations problem. Half of our licensees proudly count themselves Social Justice Warriors…
Phillips Public Comments I’m Phillip Crum, Joe Citizen, cofounder of AMHP. I want to begin by praising the BHEC staff and the 4 Boards for the work you’ve done. Six years ago this agency and its boards couldn’t sharpen a pencil in less than 6-9 months. Mr Spinks and his polished crew have it running in world class fashion. The Public Doesn’t Trust Us Anymore We must set our sights on regaining the trust of the public because right now we don’t have it. We have an enormous public mental health problem brought about, we believe, by ideology. Our licensee ranks have not been immune to the mental virus that afflicts so many of our citizens. Licensees are practicing based…
People not qualified or built to be in the mental health profession are being let into grad school with little to no testing for aptitude. The on-going faculty screening that used to occur for suitability for the profession (and suggestions as to other more suitable career paths) is all but gone. This has everything to do with the prevailing social attitudes about feelings, and an institutional fear of losing revenue. Let’s not forget the parents/alumni of these young adults who call the shots to get their academically unprepared kids (who can’t put a proper sentence together) a passing grade. That does go on. Captured Coursework Then there’s the watered-down coursework. The accrediting institutions have made sure the schools and their…
Kathleen Mills Public Comments Watch the recording of the LPC Meeting here. Public comments are at the beginning of the meeting. I’m Kathleen Mills LPC-Supervisor and co-founder of AMHP. Ken Paxton’s office still has not handed down an opinion yet per BHEC’s request as to whether or not BHEC licensees are to be considered, “health care providers”. What I wanted to say today, had that opinion been delivered in the manner in which we expect it to be, will have to wait. So I’d like to put something on the table for you to think about in advance of that decision. If NOT Healthcare Providers, What Are We? If the AG rules that we are NOT health care providers, that…
Watch the recorded LPC Board Meeting here. Public comments are at the beginning. Phillips Public Comments My name is Phillip Crum, Joe Citizen, and I am a co-founder of AMHP. I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to say today for over a month and I thought given the current lack of 3-alarm issues, I’d start by saying how much Kathleen and I appreciate what the BHEC staff and all 4 boards have managed to accomplish in the past 5.5 years. Time doesn’t permit an exhaustive list but… I’ve always gotten the very strong impression that Brenda Schiff, Cristina De Luna and Sarah Faszholz all have the same job description, and it reads, “keep Darrel out of the weeds”. Apparently,…
Prior Blog Posts
Our previous blog posts will remain on PracticeMentors.us for now. Find them here.