The “Helping” Profession
April 6, 2013
What would you think about your Doctor for treating only your cough, while all along he knew you had TB? I am guessing that after you passed on, your family certainly would lawyer-up.
I won’t pretend to be simplistic in my answer and will start my reply with an incendiary statement. Only treating “at-risk” youth is the same as only treating that bad cough you have after the x-ray confirmed TB. It is criminally negligent and unethical. The problem is that no one out there in the MH community is willing to talk about the real causes. Instead, we pat ourselves on the back for working countless hours in impossible conditions for low pay so that we feel glorified when making statements like, “if I can just save one…”.
There are countless people and systems that have a “finger in the pie” of responsibility of this problem. That is exactly why it won’t get solved, but rather it will evolve. Also, the problem did not come in the last four years or even in our generation. We now have multi-generational, circularly-reinforced cultural degradation. Eventually the “problem” will become so large and so prevalent, that it will simply become the norm; ergo, no more problem. We have seen this type of evolution in concepts many times.
In a perfect world, everyone would be happy, no one would need anything and there would be no trauma or the resulting drama. Heaven is the only utopia and Adam and Eve blew our chance of having that utopia here on earth. Now, chances are that by saying “Heaven”, I lost a large portion of the MH community. Regardless, I will soldier on. Absent a perfect world available anymore, we are living in a fallen world. Pain and consequences are often indicators of something being wrong. For quite a while, our societal culture has chosen to do pain management, rather than prevention and/or surgery. If you notice more than a few metaphors relating to healthcare, it is not a coincidence.
Our culture is the parent of our next generation. Parents gave up the difficult task of parenting a very long time ago. There are many excuses for the cessation of that responsibility AND a tremendous amount of “help” from agencies, schools and the government. The common excuses I have heard why parents are absent are usually related to money or work. Besides, there is an after school program or a local kids’ club to keep them busy. Jump back about 200 years or maybe even just 100. We still had crime. We had people out of work. We had natural disasters. What changed? Now we have unnatural disasters to add to the list.
I will give you wonderful MH professionals another analogy to chew on. Johnny is an alcoholic. He has lost or severely damaged many relationships and has lost multiple jobs directly due to the effects of his drinking. Now, Sally comes along and she feels sorry for Johnny and wants to help him out. Johnny is without work, behind on the rent and doesn’t seem to even have enough money for food. This tears Sally’s heart into pieces. Sally believes that all Johnny needs is a break. He just needs a chance to get out from under the stress of his situation. If she can take some of the burden of Johnny’s life off of his shoulders, he will have a chance to get back on his feet and start the healing process. Sally offers to pay Johnny’s light bill and rent for the month. She feels empowered and fulfilled by doing such a good deed for someone in need.
Pretend this is one of those “you pick the ending” books. As a MH professional, what do you believe the outcome will be? Does Johnny, see the light and become the model father, neighbor and employee? Or does Johnny continue to drink and make Sally another in the long list of broken relationships in his life? Specific to MH, what is it called that Sally did? Starts with an “e”…
Does enabling help the “client”? Does it help the helper? Does it help anything? OR, does it hurt and prolong the pain, suffering and damage? Take the concept and act of enabling out of the individual situation. Globalize it to an entire culture at the societal level. Please tell me why it is WRONG to enable Johnny in his alcoholism, but it is GLORIOUS to enable generations by eliminating consequences for their choices with programs, assistance, grade leveling, welfare (corporate or individual), or any other attempts to manipulate outcomes??? We feel so DAMNED GREAT about our attempts to fix, help and treat those in need…
Is the community of MH Professionals so lost in incestuous thought, education and practice that we cannot do critical introspection for our efforts and effects on a societal level? Or are we just scared of offending somebody that we are willing to continue to walk down the path of destruction? Two questions: Is it working and are you really helping?
— R. A. Grier
You’ve done a fine job of reminding the Emperor that he/she wears no clothes. So now what?
Lynne, et al:
Here are the specific solutions to help turn our culture to a more healthy existence.
1) Know and love God
2) Praise and Repent – The Bible will be the guide (2000 years of evidenced-based practice)
3) Disciple to make Disciples
I propose advocating in our communities and States to re-establish the three bullets above. That is the broad brush that will paint a better picture and when in place would certainly reduce the symptoms we see in our offices. What can you do as far as service delivery in your practice? I would say that based on the best efforts of the best MH folks out there over the course of many years that you (nor me or any other individual) are not going to fix the problem one person at a time. This, as I wrote in the beginning, is a cultural problem. That culture is fed and enabled by certain things. Here are some specific things you can do to tackle that:
1) Make efforts to eliminate Government from the business of “social anything”. Government led “good deeds” have yielded generations of helpless, enabled and entitled people.
2) Grade schools are for teaching people how to add and read. Eliminate schools from the business of deciding mores, morals, values and responsibility.
3) Make efforts to restore the authority of parents. (Only if you have the first set of specifics in place above.) It is job of the parents to teach mores, morals, values and responsibility.
Collective hedonism is the path we are on now. We do what we want, when we want and how we want. Laws do not determine right and wrong and our justice system does not provide an adequate model for corrective action at the cultural level. That only comes from a higher authority. Before the 1870’s, this Country’s laws were well grounded in that higher authority. Case law took over and the slide downward continues. Still, laws and governments do a dangerous job of trying to curtail choices and behaviors. It would be best to prevent rather than treat, which is the crux of my original post.
— R. A. Grier
I appreciate the thought you obviously put into this piece, and it begs the question, “Are you speaking from your own experience with the MH profession as a client or provider?” I only ask because of how personal your article appears, which is great writing. I do challenge your generalization that lumps all of us providers into the same bucket of ineffectual, PC, do-gooders, who decry the problems in today’s culture, society, schools, etc., but don’t really achieve much. Speaking for myself, I am a doctoral trained, independently licensed MH professional who has worked in settings ranging from public schools to state agencies to State and Fed prisons, to college classrooms, and for the last 20+ years, private practice. I am a Catholic and proud of my faith, Viet Nam era navy vet, active in civic and political events, Boy Scout leader, and happily married father of a 13 year old son. I could go on, but suffice to say, I don’t fit your stereotype. I also hold hope for a return to more traditional parenting and family structure, which I believe is the best way to prevent or reduce the problems you describe.
April 19, 2013
Donald (if I may call you that),
I have to admit that there was an attempt on my part to “dangle the fuse” so to speak in front of people like you. I am one of those MH professionals who has spent 20+ years working in a broken culture which appears to want nothing more, but to continue to dig for the lowest point. My writing isn’t fully intended to enlighten. Like you, there are very bright people out there. My efforts are aimed at getting those smart people to gather courage to speak up and act out (nice MH pun for you) against things that are not healthy. I don’t and won’t pretend to understand the mind of God. I can only guess that he doesn’t care a whole bunch about our efforts outside of bringing glory and new disciples to him. I fear that our culture’s desire to dig deep into the flesh of hedonistic humanity will only get them closer to the warmth of Satan in hell. I want to go around all day yelling, “Stop feeding the Beast, he doesn’t need much help!”
Thank you for taking the time to read and reply!
— R. A. Grier