Bullet-Proofing Your Story is One Way to Fight Back
One of many things you can do as a counselor to help right the ship that is our profession is the act of bullet-proofing your website. Make your positions known so that your site visitors who are trying to determine your belief system can do so with ease. One of the things you can do is craft "your story" so it paints a good picture of who you are. This is not a bio or a list of your accomplishments, it's your "why". (People don't care about your cat's name or your favorite cookie. They want to know if YOU are going to be a good fit for them and their specific issues. They want to know you as a real person before they pick up the phone.)
I've been shoring up my website in strategic pieces over the past year and recently decided to rewrite my story to make it more relevant to the issues we're all dealing with. What follows is my new story and you can find the rest of my website presence here.
Kathleen Mills' Story
"I'm Kathleen Mills, LPC-S, CEAP, CIMHP. I've been doing this for almost 35 years now and I still love it. But let me tell you what's changed in that time period as far as my approach to helping people like you.
It's my practiced opinion that the counseling profession is at great risk of losing our edge to a singular way of thinking. Far too many counselors have been taught to think that therapy is the delivery of a handful of academically approved, mostly talk-therapy approaches, and if that doesn't do the trick then we're to send them to a psychiatrist for yet another pill.
It's been a Band-Aid approach to the underlying problems, and to the extent that a Band-Aid makes you feel better, then it has worked. But I believe that institutional wisdom has many failings on the physical, emotional, and spiritual levels as it relates to curing anything."
"Within the past 5 years I have begun to listen to that little voice telling me that an effective, professional approach to mental health involves a purposeful, comprehensive assessment of the mind, body and spirit to be curative. The mind does not operate in a disembodied vacuum and so every aspect of our lives should be examined for effect to achieve a desired outcome.
I began following other pioneers of this approach to mental health and I have never looked back. Along the way I acquired my CIMHP, the Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional certification, assembled a team of support professionals who practice healing arts beyond my scope of practice, and re-entered my chosen profession with a new sense of purpose.
I am convinced beyond any measure that most mental illness is directly related to the quality of just a handful of environmental factors. That includes the foods we eat and the chemicals they contain, the sleep quality we get, the overall condition of our bodies (exercise) and one's spiritual component. All of that contributes to and affects who we are, how we think, and ultimately the quality of our mental condition. So, to achieve the desired outcome for you I have greatly expanded the breadth of information needed from a new client when we get started.
What We've Been Doing Isn't Working
A counselor's task is to help a client critically think through their problems and arrive at logical, impactful and curative destinations. That approach in today's professional environment is being stymied by a dogma which does not focus on accountability but sees a therapist "affirming" a client's pre-determined self-diagnosis.
"Another pill" is not my go-to solution. (Check out this page for the difference between traditional allopathic medical treatment and our approach) Accountability is the rule around here and I will hold you accountable for all aspects of your life that may be negatively contributing to your current issues, but only if you truly want to get better. That's my approach to helping you conquer your mental health concerns and I look forward to meeting you and holding you accountable!"
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About the Author
Kathleen Mills is a fire-breathing, 33+ year veteran of the counseling world. People react in one of two ways when evil touches their lives: some retreat in fear, and some advance without pause to engage it. Kathleen falls firmly in the latter group. She owns and operates Life Tree Counseling in Frisco, TX, possesses a tireless work-ethic, and eagerly awaits your arrival into her growing army of warriors.
