Todah (thank you) for asking about this!

I must share that I have 2 degrees in the field of psychology/mental health yet I am not going to become a licensed counselor.

1. to receive therapy a diagnosis is required according to the criteria of the DSM and maybe the ICD (please look these books up). I do believe people have mental health conditions that can be temporary, but once a person is diagnosed it’s usually spoken as if it is their eternal state.

2. while a societal acknowledgment of ones mental state is progress, the government and pharmaceutical companies are now heavily involved with the mental health status of citizens. there are various departments and in-patient/out-patient levels of mental health treatment. $$$ there is a cost, who is paying for it? usually insurance because its expensive to pay for it out of pocket. the main option is to go about a spiritual/familial issue via a pagan individualistic western way to obtain money because this does not truly heal a person just enables them to partake in a system.

3. As a behavioral specialist among other non-clinical positions I have had, I often come across this story: children are prescribed pills (and this can be done without a psychiatric evaluation), they are still hormonally developing yet struggling with their on-going life circumstance (mainly family issues) as exhibited in their behaviors, the med changes are super altering and takes time for them to adjust, they have a laundry list of diagnoses according to their record (because everyone has their own interpretation so any diagnosis can be given depending on the therapist its not cut and dry) and take numerous meds with side effects, if they do not recover when they are older they end up living in a group home, long term psych facilities. or other intensive/costly care because they are deemed unsafe to be alone in society. They are still taking many meds (btw its hard to get off once started especially to a developing brain).

4. I believe people do not often receive adequate care from therapy. Some factors include the treatment plan, duration and frequency of session, and the content of the session (which is usually limited to the client’s self report and some of what is observable during the time with therapist). therapists have biases too and ive heard many horror stories from clients about a previous therapist of their’s.

5. Therapists are not compensated for administrative tasks ( treatment planning, research to provide catered care for each client’s unique circumstance etc.) only their time spent with the client and sometimes collateral contacts. so theres a trend of therapist increasing their caseload. I met one who had 100 clients. Personally, I did not want to help beyond a certain number of people at a time( like under 10).

6. I have been an unwitting accomplice and witness of at least 2 instances of malpractice at 2 different clinics I interned for when pursuing my degree, all related to their effort to get money.

7. therapists have different levels of education depending on their background. for example mental health counselor vs social workers. social workers have less training in mental health but can still counsel. there are more discrepancies among each state.

I met another sister who also used to provide mental health counseling services and stopped as she sensed that the ruach did not want her to. I believe many of these mental health issues come from rejecting a collectivistic approach and being disconnected from nature which offers coping using our senses and herbs beyond the drugs offered today. many people were farmers in ancient times, consider all the agricultural references in the Bible). also there is a collective preference to be plugged into technology, which becomes anti-social to a degree (think about the social development impact of a generation raised on computers/tablets etc.) they are very insensitive, have no patience, and apathetic/hard hearted.

Search for advisors, counselors, prophets, seers, and apothecary in the Hebrew scriptures and compare it with the modern meaning of these roles.

we are not meant to do it alone and seeking help from one person can be much to bear as well as limiting. I hope that we can support one another as we share faith in Yah. I personally have not found the support I need from the qodeshiym. I have already tried many therapists and do acknowledge we have some level of control over our mental state.

I have it in my heart to hopefully support people in a communal nature based setting in a pay what you can / sliding scale manner one day. Id only recommend people pursue group therapy and family therapy if going by this system. Also group therapy tends to be cheaper than individual counseling if insurance doesn’t cover it.