What Qualifies Me to Provide Mental Health Services?

[DISCLAIMER]

Recently, a client asked for my opinion regarding President of the United States (U.S.) Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) entitled Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets, yet I hadn’t looked into the matter. As such, the current blogpost is intended to remedy my ignorance.

Prior to delving into the EO, it’s worth noting that when recently discussing my life coaching experience with someone I was asked, “What qualified you to do that when in seventh grade?” Thus, I’m aware that qualifying my opinion with informal and formal experience may be useful.

Before continuing any further, I acknowledge that my lived experience doesn’t inherently qualify my opinion as worthy to all people. In any event, although undiagnosed, I suspect that my late mom experienced mental issues. Noteworthy, I clarified in a blogpost entitled Mental Issues:

An “issue” is merely a vital or unsettled matter. In the context of mental, emotional, and behavioral health (collectively “mental health”), mental issues colloquially relate to mental illnesses or disorders. According to the American Psychiatric Association’s definition:

Mental illnesses are health conditions involving changes in emotion, thinking or behavior (or a combination of these). Mental illnesses can be associated with distress and/or problems functioning in social, work or family activities.

Although “mental illness” and “mental disorder” are terms which are often used synonymously, the former is a dated phrase while the latter is used more contemporarily. According to the American Psychological Association’s definition of a mental disorder, the following applies:

[A]ny condition characterized by cognitive and emotional disturbances, abnormal behaviors, impaired functioning, or any combination of these. Such disorders cannot be accounted for solely by environmental circumstances and may involve physiological, genetic, chemical, social, and other factors.

Regardless of whether or not one prefers “mental illness” or “mental disorder,” mental issues generally regard vital or unsettled matters relating to one’s psychological functioning. In common parlance, these matters are simply referred to as “issues.”

Even though my mom adamantly denied use of recreational substances (i.e., alcohol, illicit drugs, etc.) during the time I was in her care, other individuals have refuted that claim. For context, I was raised by my mom from birth until halfway through my fifth grade year.

I was then sent to live with my dad, remaining with him until halfway through my seventh grade year. While also undiagnosed, I suspect that my dad experiences mental issues. Additionally, on many occasions, I witnessed my dad partaking in recreational substance abuse.

Returned to live with my mom in seventh grade, I remained in her care for a relatively brief period of time before being sent to live in a children’s home. As I endured repeated traumatic stressors as a child, at the hands of both parents, I first experienced suicidal ideation at age nine.

In a blogpost entitled I’m My Own Mechanic, I said, “I’ve been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, recurrent, chronic; posttraumatic stress disorder, chronic; attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, combined type; and a physiatrist diagnosed me with traumatic brain injury.”

I wasn’t evaluated for these conditions until I was an adult. Therefore, when living in the children’s home and informally beginning the practice of life coaching, there was nothing other than lived experience to qualify me for this unregulated practice pertaining to wellness.

The above photo was taken when I lived in the children’s home, during my eighth grade year. The boy displayed with me, who I’ll call “Axl,” after his favorite vocalist of the same name, was a friend of mine and we lived together. About him, in a blogpost entitled Use of Humor, I stated:

A number of residents on campus shared with me some of the most disturbing tales I’d heard in regards to the capacity for human beings to neglect and abuse children in ways I care not to repeat herein. Besides, those stories aren’t mine to tell.

Back then, I didn’t understand why other children and eventually some adults confided in me. All the same, I listened to problems, provided recommendations for what solutions I thought may be helpful, and encouraged others in the interest of hopefulness […]

A number of years [later], when Axl and I were out of the [children’s] home and attending high school, Axl took his own life. Regrettably, he couldn’t laugh in contempt of suffering any longer.

For Axl, here are the words he once introduced to me when the opportunity presented itself to offer support: “So never mind the darkness, we still can find a way. ‘Cause nothin’ lasts forever, even cold November rain.”

In the photo with Axl, I’m holding a stapler to my temple and simulating the act of completing suicide. Perhaps one may gawk at my use of gallows humor, given that Axl actually later took his own life. However, by that point in my life, I genuinely wanted to kill myself.

Professionally, I wasn’t qualified to provide mental health services from seventh grade until the time at which I attended graduate school for counseling (2009-2011). Upon graduating, I earned a Master of Arts in Counseling degree. Shortly thereafter, I worked in a behavioral health clinic.

Upon completing my second round of graduate school, this time for social work (2012-2014), I earned a Master of Science in Social Work degree. Not long thereafter, I gained employment with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as I mainly worked with caregivers of veterans.

Not remaining in that position for long, I continued life coaching. Augmenting my provision of mental health services was my education, training, and experience as a psychotherapist. Then, in 2019, I continued collecting 3,000 hours of supervised postgraduate experience for licensure.

I worked for a private mental health practitioner, providing individual and couples services. During that time, I received formal training for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).

In 2021, I earned independent licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I then began Hollings Therapy, LLC, working solely for myself through the provision of mental health services via teletherapy.

Since then, I’ve received formal training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Also, I took the Personality Disorders Course: Advanced Diagnosis, Treatment, & Management. Regarding my formal training and certifications, REBT is my preferred psychotherapeutic modality.

Given my informal and formal background information regarding life coaching and psychotherapy, I propose that what qualifies me to provide mental health services is over three decades of trying to help people get better rather than simply aiming to help them feel better.

Furthermore, in consideration of my mental health diagnoses, I didn’t learn about what does, doesn’t, can, or can’t work to increase one’s level of functioning and quality of life by merely receiving education and training in my field. I’ve endured my conditions since childhood.

This brings me to Trump’s Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets EO. When recently asked about the matter by a client, this individual was self-disturbed by irrational beliefs about how the president could potentially begin locking up people (like me) with mental issues.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, of which I was once a member, “President Trump signed an executive order today [7/24/2025] directing states to criminalize unhoused people and institutionalize people with mental health disabilities and substance use disorder.”

I’m a disabled veteran with mental health diagnoses, though I’ve maintained lifelong sobriety. Admittedly, I tasted wine, beer, and whiskey in childhood. Also, I once took a puff of a cigarette and once sampled chewing tobacco as a kid. Aside from that, I’ve not used substances.

Consequently, I’m unaware as to whether or not Trump’s EO would jeopardize my civil liberties. Are mental issues alone worthy of criminalization or institutionalization?  As well, are the clients with whom I work in danger? Per the Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets EO:

Endemic vagrancy, disorderly behavior, sudden confrontations, and violent attacks have made our cities unsafe.  The number of individuals living on the streets in the United States on a single night during the last year of the previous administration — 274,224 — was the highest ever recorded.  The overwhelming majority of these individuals are addicted to drugs, have a mental health condition, or both. 

Nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having regularly used hard drugs like methamphetamines, cocaine, or opioids in their lifetimes.  An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.  The Federal Government and the States have spent tens of billions of dollars on failed programs that address homelessness but not its root causes, leaving other citizens vulnerable to public safety threats.

It appears as though the purpose of the EO is to address homelessness, houselessness, the unhoused, people experiencing homelessness, or whatever continually-shifting term is currently en vogue. Still, I wonder. What are the qualifiers for this EO?

Currently, I own my home. If I lose it, given that I’m a disabled individual with mental issues, will I be locked away in an institution? Perhaps one imagines that this is a facetious question. Yet, what would then separate me from others who are ostensibly targeted by the EO?

Perhaps helpfully, the EO states, “The Attorney General shall prioritize available funding to support the expansion of drug courts and mental health courts for individuals for which such diversion serves public safety.” Still, one wonders what funding is “available” in the U.S.

It appears as though our nation is still backing the Ukraine and in armed conflict against Russia, and Israel in its antagonism in the Middle East. Are there available funds left over after seemingly supporting genocidal actions of Israel, if not only ethnic cleansing or war crimes?

Further, what’s the greater threat—the “number of individuals living on the streets” in the U.S. or the ongoing thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people who’ve perished from U.S.-funded armed conflict as of relatively recent? Or am I just crazy to ask this?

Also, the EO requires the sharing of “data with law enforcement authorities in circumstances permitted by law and to use the collected health data to provide appropriate medical care to individuals with mental health diagnoses or to connect individuals to public health resources.”

This portion of the EO is likely what my client’s unfavorable beliefs are about. I, too, share this individual’s concern when the U.S. government begins collecting and sharing mental health information with entities with a monopoly on violence within the nation (i.e., law enforcement).

However, unlike my client, I acknowledge how little control and influence I have in this regard. In fact, I admit that I have zero control over this matter. This is because the only thing I can control is my reaction to the EO, which is influenced by the beliefs I maintain.

While I may be able to influence this matter (e.g., posting a poorly written blog entry), it’s highly unlikely that my efforts will actually promote change. Thus, Trump’s Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets EO is positioned within my circle of concern.

Within this sphere are matters such as natural disasters, nuclear war, and so forth and so on. Stoically, I’m unbothered by my beliefs about matters I can’t control or influence. Personally, this mindset is what I maintain truly qualifies me to provide mental health services to others.

I control whether or not I hold a stapler or a gun to my head. Likewise, I control whether or not I’ll self-disturb over suspicious executive orders. Of course, you don’t have to amass over three decades of life coaching and psychotherapy service provision to achieve a similar mind frame.

You can practice REBT without a decree or certification. If you choose to do so, then you can learn to control your reactions to matters which are beyond your ability to change. This you can do even if you have mental issues, like me. Are you ready to learn more about REBT?

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

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