My license to practice psychology, issued by the North Carolina Psychology Board in 1978, comes up for renewal in October, as it does every two years. Like everything that emanates from or is associated with the profession of psychology, it is meaningless and deceptive. Unlike every other licensed profession, psychology lacks meaningful practice standards. In the final analysis, once an individual obtains a license to practice psychology, he is essentially free to choose between more than a dozen different “treatment” modalities or even invent a new one. When all is said and done, however, and regardless of how he describes himself, psychologist Bill Haley practices Bill Haley therapy.
Psychology is guilty of deceptive business practices. Common sense along with objective data obtained from peer-reviewed, published studies fail to support the idea that psychology is a science, that practice quality (as measured by consumer satisfaction surveys) is directly correlated with a counselor’s education level, that terms like “biochemical imbalance,” “brain difference,” and “mental illness” have any validity, that psychological diagnoses have any validity, that seeking therapy for a personal problem is better than doing nothing but muddling through it on one’s own, that psychological tests measure what psychologists say they measure, that the general level of mental health in America will improve as the per-capita number of psychologists increases—in short, that psychologists know what they’re doing.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep on saying it until the appropriate parties begin to listen and do something…the profession of psychology, as represented by states’ licensing boards, should be investigated by states’ attorneys general for misleading and deceptive business practices as well as possible violation of the RICO act based on its relationship with Big Pharma.
Anyway, for all those reasons and more I have decided not to renew my license. The North Carolina Psychology Board will be ecstatic. I’ve been nothing but a burr in their side, which has been my intention. I kept my license for this long simply because I wanted it to be known that my “take” on psychology as a BIG SCAM was coming from a psychologist!
This decision will affect nothing of consequence. I am still available for private consultations and public presentations. I will continue to write my weekly substack.com essay and my once or twice-monthly essay for Clear Truth Media. Come October, I will be podcasting weekly…again. My websites will continue. And so on.
In other words, although I am not going to renew my all-but completely meaningless license, I am not retiring and will not retire until for whatever reason I simply cannot do “it” any longer. I’m in good health and share no characteristics in common with Mumbling Joe. I still play golf, write songs, and dance the boogaloo.
Have a good summer!
Copyright 2024, John K. Rosemond
