This post is a critique of mainstream mental health and what can be done to improve it.

Apologies upfront; this is a soapbox rant. I’ve worked in the mainstream mental health field and it’s appallingly bad. I’ll tell you why.
First it might be helpful if you know a bit about me.
I worked for thirteen years at the Behavioral Health Clinic of our local hospital until 2013 when I retired. Actually the new CEO made hospital-wide cutbacks – and I was one of them. But I was 69 years old and it was time to leave.
Now I could relax into the home based counseling practice my wife Amy and I now have.
I have no degrees and no university training, except for one psychology semester, which explained to me why this field was rotten to the core.

Continue reading What’s wrong with mental health? →

(1352 words – 6 1/2 minute read)

Why doesn’t some therapy or technique always work? Maybe we’re not doing it right, maybe there is something wrong with us, and of course maybe it’s a lousy technique. But given that there are so many workable techniques out there I have come to the conclusion that doing almost anything will work if the person is receptive to change.

I have made up, (or “spontaneous intuitive insight” as one of my kinder clients has said) a new method in the middle of a session just because I felt like doing something different, and it’s worked just fine, sometimes brilliantly.

So if it’s us, what is it and can it be fixed? And, just as important, what is the state we are seeking to attain that makes us susceptible to beneficial change?

What does a “perfect” session look like?

Continue reading “It’s not working!” (Part 1) →

(483 words – 2 1/2 minute read)

This blog is about why we are ministers in the Church of Healing Energy, and why what we do is called pastoral counseling.

Being pastoral counselors is more than a protective umbrella under which we may freely practice our healing arts – it’s about how we see you and how we get good results.

When I (Rod) was employed at our local hospital Behavioral Health Unit the clinical director, and good friend, Dr. T. and I would spice up otherwise deadly boring clinical staff meetings with interesting discussions.

One of our exchanges was about consciousness and chemistry.

Continue reading Why ‘Pastoral Counseling’? →