Let’s Talk About Ethics: Advice for Choosing and Vetting Your Mental Health Professionals

Choosing the right mental health professionals to support you can be scary. You’re trusting someone with the deepest, messiest parts of yourself – and you deserve to be able to trust them fully. So let’s talk about what you can do to ensure you’re trusting the right people.

I’ve recently come face to face with what happens when a mental health professional acts less than professional. Someone within my circle broke my trust and abused a professional position to their advantage.

I take ethics so seriously that it’s hard for me to imagine that someone else in this space would put their own interests above their clients’. But I know that it happens. So I want to do what I can to help you protect yourself. 

But first, I want to talk about my own ethics.

My Own Code of Ethics

In the mental health field, we have strict guidelines for our professional behaviors. We work with people at their most vulnerable, so it’s important that we act ethically. But I have always maintained my own code of ethics, too.

From the time I first started working in this field, it was important to me to be able to give out my number to clients. With the work that I do, and the people I work with, I knew that access to me was critical to my clients’ care. Unfortunately, that wasn’t okay everywhere I worked. My employers had policies against it. The insurance companies saw it as an unnecessary liability. But I knew it mattered.

So I created my own practices, with my own policies. I decided to do it my way. I maintained the ethics of my field while staying true to my own code of ethics. I made the changes in the best interest of my clients. And it worked!

Clients thank me every single day! This is how it needs to be and what I’m working to help everyone understand!

What Does It Mean to Serve?

Through this fiasco, I unfortunately learned that some people care more about dollars than actually helping (and more than they care about me). It’s a difficult realization. I’ve dedicated my life to serving others, and seeing someone claim to do the same while actually causing harm is troubling me. On so many levels. 

‘Serving’ isn’t just about providing a service to people. It’s something deeper. Serving others means putting their needs before your personal success. It’s about having empathy for others.

And in a professional setting, it means treating others ethically.

But what does it mean to be a professional?

How Do You Define ‘A Professional’?

Over the years, I’ve come to believe that there are many ways to be a ‘professional.’ There’s no one definition of professional.

Did you know that you can just buy a certification online? There are people out there who pay to get the credentials that I spent hours and thousands of dollars to obtain. I went through so much training, and some people are taking the easy route. But to tell you the truth, I’d rather have the training. I would rather have the knowledge and skills that came with my degrees. I earned them. Sure, others might buy their credentials. But who really loses? The clients. Every. Single. Time. 

And here’s the thing: those credentials aren’t the only way to become a professional. I value life experience. The lessons you learn through experience matter just as much as the ones you learn in a classroom. Losing Jim taught me that education doesn’t teach you all you need to know. It matters, of course. Life experience with zero education, expertise, or professional background makes someone your peer. You have to have a combination of both.

For example:

Sassy is a pitbull mix. I have anxiety. She has had any and all possible training to become legally licensed and certified as my emotional support animal. But also, pit bulls have horrible reputations. I wanted Sassy to be thoroughly trained, period. For my protection and hers. I pursued the same with Dallas when I got her. I knew that Sassy was capable of the tasks of an emotional support animal, but she still needed the formal training. And that’s how I see professional credentials in the mental health field.

So how can you protect yourself? How can you ensure that you’re choosing the right mental health professional?

How Do You Choose the Right Mental Health Professional?

First, get to know the differences between different professionals within the field. Figure out what you need, and who is the best fit to help you. Do you need a counselor or a psychiatrist? Is a family therapist the best fit? Do you need someone who can prescribe medications, or someone to help you talk through your life troubles? If you’re not sure, it doesn’t hurt to schedule an appointment with your doctor and get their recommendation.

If there is a specific issue you would like to work on, be sure to choose a professional who specializes in that issue. For instance, I specialize in helping people heal from grief. You could even choose someone who specializes in helping you improve certain areas of your life, like your relationship or your career. 

Get familiar with the types of treatment and the treatment philosophies that different professionals subscribe to. For instance, many therapists use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as their primary approach. It’s a useful and successful form of therapy, but it isn’t the right fit for every situation. 

Once you know who you want to work with, you need to vet them.

How Do You Vet Your Mental Health Professional?

It’s important to take steps to protect yourself when working with mental health professionals. You should be absolutely sure that the person you are working with is trustworthy.

The first step to vetting is to check their credentials. Make sure that they are licensed and certified correctly. Make sure their licenses are up to date, and haven’t expired or been revoked.

Next, check their reviews! Their business likely has a Google Business Profile, which means you can see all of their reviews – both good and bad. Not every bad review is a sign that a professional can’t be trusted, but it can give you a good idea of what to expect.

Once you’ve made your first appointment, stay open to the possibilities. You may have to visit several mental health professionals before finding one who is right for you. Treat your first appointment as a chance to get to know them, and find out if you ‘click.’ If you don’t, keep looking!

Don’t Get Discouraged

I understand if this sounds intimidating. It’s scary to think that there are ‘bad actors’ out there. But in my experience, most mental health professionals are in it for the right reasons. Most of us want to help you!

If you have reservations about finding a mental health professional, I’m here for you! I’m committed to doing my part to ensure everyone has access to the services they need.

You can hear more of my thoughts on this topic on this episode of The Be Ruthless Show,

And remember, you can reach out anytime: sam@samantharuth.com