There are at least 3 major, systemic pathways that are negatively influencing and impacting our profession: Academia via the Post-Modernism/Woke movement, Big Pharma, and Big Finance. In this post, the 6th in a series of 7, we will address the first leg of that trifecta, how the Post-Modern/Woke culture has invaded our profession through Academia. But first, how did we lose Academia?

The Last Gasp of a Defeated Foe

Post-Modernism gained traction outside of the Ivory Towers in the 1850's. 100 years and 138 million bodies later the grand experiment, Capitalism vs Socialism, was finished and Capitalism had won a resounding victory. Events in the mid-'50's, courtesy of the Soviet bloc (Hungary '56), all but ended any hope of any long-term socialist victory and worldwide implementation.

At this point the rational leftist thinkers (they exist!) moved on to other pursuits and ideologies. But there's always a handful of hotheads who refuse to give up a fight even if the outcome has already been determined. "If I can't have what I want then neither can you and I'm taking you down with me."

Post-Hungary 1956, all that was left to the Marxist remnant was the convulsing cadaver that became the '60's (see Terrorism option below). That played out on national television and when the dust had settled, all the socialist die-hards had to show for their efforts was a small foothold gained in the academic world.

Following those failed activist riots the leading leftist philosopher of the day, Marcuse, predicted that post-modernism would retreat to Academia and continue the fight from there. That is exactly what they've done. The defeated but tenured campus professors and their devoted student-soldiers proceeded to take over the liberal college collective on a national basis, one administrative position, one professorship, one young mind at a time. Their weapons of choice would be:

• Terrorism (this largely failed in the '60's although an historically ignorant new generation(s) is more than willing to burn a few police cars)
• Environmentalism
• Multiculturalism
• Language; weaponization of words

Sound familiar? We've been dealing with each of those weapons since the '70's. Just know that these are the weaponized tools of the social justice warrior and they all originated from the academic strongholds established in the late '60's and '70's.

In a nutshell that's what happened to our higher education and we'll be cleaning up the mess for another 25 years through retirements, deaths, better educated younger generations, and public pushback. So how has the capture of academia affected our profession?

Not All Are Lost

I should point out that not every kid who goes off to college succumbs to the Woke way of thinking. Some kids are more susceptible than others, some campuses are more steeped in it than others. It's been a slow, 50 year drip which is the type of guerilla warfare a vanquished foe needs to wage to stay in the fight (at least as they imagine it). And they've amassed a considerable following over time with very effective, albeit highly confusing weapons. And where is that army?

This is Joe Citizens' Front Line?

They work among us. The indoctrinated student body has been staffing the counseling profession for the past 5 decades. A worrisome percentage of our licensed counselors subscribe to the Woke mindset and that is obviously a direct frontal assault on not only our profession but the public at large. There are professors on record who have stated that their "singular objective is to turn their students into little social justice warriors" in order to change social policy. What happened to the agnostic approach to teaching, where you couldn't tell what the professor believed because he wanted you to think for yourself?

Our licensing boards are staffed from the counselor ranks which means that there will undoubtedly be Woke adherents sitting on the boards. We also have professors (and their pronouns!) holding board positions and while a good case can be made for the representative professor to speak to the real life issues of integration between campus administration and licensing I'm not convinced the trade-off is worth it. This doesn't even take into account those at the State level who are doing the board member selection. What ideologies do they subscribe to?

This Is Our Support Team?

The indoctrinated also hold jobs and positions of authority in the insurance and EAP companies we deal with. They are the primary physicians and psychiatrists to whom we have traditionally referred.

They staff our professional associations and influence licensees. The largest professional organization for psychiatry, the APA, is responsible for compiling and publishing the bible for our industry, the DSM which has blatantly and admittedly morphed into yet another tool for social change. All of the above bring considerable, daily influence to bear on the world in which we practice.

In short, the indoctrinated graduates coming out of our liberal arts colleges are staffing not only our counselor ranks but the industries and associations we deal with directly every day.

Intimidation Through The Front Door

But not all Woke-grads work in our industry. Some of them come through our front doors as clients bringing with them their own special set of demands and shaming techniques for non-compliance. They want forms with space to write their pronouns and an insistence that you use them when addressing them. They want to be able to specify their gender identification and they insist that you understand and respect it. And heaven forbid you be a white-skinned counselor. They demand you know all about their preferences but scold you as a racist if you ask for clarification. There's more but the point is the WMV ideology is attacking our profession through our own front doors as well.

Summary

Retreating to the incubator of academia to lick its wounds and re-group was smart. Graduating radical adherents at a rate so slow that no one would notice would be sheer genius had they done it on purpose, but the cumulative effect of 50 years of Marxist grads is now finally being felt.

America's saving grace has been that the graduation rate of the successfully indoctrinated hasn't been as rapid as they would have liked. Had it been in greater numbers then America might very well be past the point of no return; defeated from within.

All of this rolls into our offices and begs to be dealt with and so we shall. We still have them vastly out-numbered but they do make a lot of noise and the squeaky wheel....well, you know the rest. It's time to start squeaking a little louder my counselor friends, and reclaim our sanity, to better serve our clients and give them the real tools they truly need to reclaim their lives.

We got this!