Hi everybody, Clayton Vandiver, your Lightkeeper
here, and for this summer we have a real treat
for you. Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. No, that's
not a new clothing line. What it is, is short
versions of some of our most popular episodes
that we keep getting requests to show you again.
So we've cut them down, made them all less than
10 minutes long, and here you go with part one
of the Lightkeepers Podcast Shorts. Welcome to
the Light Keepers podcast. I'm Clayton Vandiver,
your Light Keeper, with a show dedicated to everyone
who wants to get the most quality out of life
that they can. My co -host, as always, Charlene,
our very own tame, licensed clinical social worker,
certified in the state of Florida. We invite
you to join the conversation this week, which
is about professional versus amateur support.
Just who is that person and what qualifies them
to help me? And so much more on this edition
of the Light Keepers Podcast. Before we start,
I'd like to invite you to please leave your questions
or comments below. We always love to hear from
you. Questions this week will be answered during
our next show that appears online every Wednesday
evening at 7 p .m. Eastern. The Light Keepers
podcast is an exclusive production of A Guiding
Light Incorporated. We'll tell you more about
A Guiding Light at the end of the podcast, but
we don't have much time, so let's get right into
this week's conversation. What does it mean to
the general public when you say, who is this
person? Are they professional? Are they amateur?
How do you know? So that's a very good question.
So the best way to know if you're working with
a professional is to ask them what their qualifications
are. and find out if they're licensed if they
are licensed there's going to be a record of
that that can be found online like for example
i'm licensed through the state of florida department
of health so if you go online and do a search
for state of florida lcsw license lookup it'll
take you to a website where just by typing in
someone's name you can verify that they have
a license okay that's a good idea well how does
now how does the general public find that information?
You just type a search? You just do a search
online for whatever state you're in, whatever
their profession is, and license look up and
it'll take you to a website where you can put
in their name and find out whether or not they
are a licensed individual. Okay, and you can
find information about both medical and counselor
personnel? Correct, correct, because technically
as a counselor, I am a medical professional.
That's why I'm licensed through the Department
of Health. Oh, okay. So that's an important distinction.
Even though I'm a counselor, what I do is considered
medical care. Okay, well I've heard some... some
folks say it's sort of like you're looking for
either a professional and you don't want a witch
doctor. I've heard that term used in the industry.
So what would constitute a witch doctor? How
do you define that one? So, for example, if you
were injured, would you call up Grandma? Uncle
Bob? neighbor across the street? Or would you
want to call your primary care physician or maybe
go to an urgent care clinic? An amateur is someone
who works based off of their personal experience.
A witch doctor. Okay. When you are in need of
support, therapeutic support, you want someone
who has been clinically trained and they've been
through the classwork, they've been through the
testing, and they have been approved to be safe
to provide that care. I say this all the time
when people ask me, hey, I've got a camcorder,
I've got a camera on my telephone, why can't
I just shoot my own professional videos? And,
you know, the people who sell camcorders and
cell phones sort of throw that word professional
around a lot because they think... You know,
if we say that, then we can charge more for it,
or they'll think they can do more than they really
can. But, you know, when they make a Hollywood
film, they spend many, many millions of dollars,
and they use cameras that cost as much as some
very luxurious cars. And don't you think they'd
use cheaper stuff if they could get away with
it? And if they didn't need it, don't you think
they'd stay out of film school for... you know
anywhere from five to seven years hey maybe we
know something that the average guy on the street
doesn't about making films and movies i'm sure
it's exactly like that in the medical community
if i needed to amputate an arm i certainly wouldn't
grab the first chainsaw i saw well and it goes
a little deeper than that because there are places
online for example There are some wonderful resources
online, especially if you're grieving. For example,
there's one particular website that in the past
has trained volunteers to provide online bereavement
support. The problem is grief can be complicated,
and not everyone is qualified or should be qualified
to provide grief support because there's a lot
that can be affected. Absolutely. And someone
who is not trained, who doesn't know how to look
for potential influences, maybe a past history
of substance abuse or a personality disorder
or a mental health illness that might complicate
that bereavement, unethical it's not just negligent
it could be down outright dangerous I understand
and is it just that they might assess the needs
incorrectly refer someone to the wrong resource
perhaps even rope them into a network of pals
that stand to profit I know there are some unethical
people out there how much damage can they really
do They can do a lot and not even meaning to.
You know, people go into this wanting to provide
that support, that amateur support. They go into
it with the best of intentions. But you know
what they say. St. Bernard of Clairvaux said
that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
That's a good point. And so they mean well. They
really do. They really do. That's not always
the best course of action. They can cause a lot
of harm emotionally, mentally, and can make an
already difficult time a lot more difficult and
distressing. How does the person listening and
watching know where to turn for information about
who might be a professional and who might be
a witch doctor? That's, again, where you have
to be very careful. There are a lot of resources
available online. resources available to support
you through end of life process. You know, there
are people out there that call themselves death
doulas that are out there to provide a wonderful
support service, a wonderful needed service where
they're supporting people who have been diagnosed
with a terminal illness or their family as they
go through this time. But the problem is, is
these people are not being properly vetted. There's
no, there's no specific training for them and
so a lot of these people are amateurs that have
come into the field through personal experience
that want to be able to help others and if this
if you're someone who who is like that that wants
to provide that support I applaud that, and I
encourage you to volunteer with your local hospices
or hospitals. That's a wonderful outlet for you.
But if this is something that you want to do
for a living, full -time, go to school. Get trained
how to do it. That way you're not putting others
at risk of injury, mental or physical, and you're
not putting yourself in danger of litigation
because in some states it's actually illegal.
to provide therapeutic support without a license
well it's always good to be willing to talk about
quality of life because every single one of us
will face some of these issues someday either
not prepared at all or very well prepared indeed
from joining us here on the light keepers podcast
each and every wednesday evening at 7 pm eastern
The Light Keepers Podcast is an exclusive production
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episode. I'm Clayton Vandiver, your Light Keeper.
We'll see you next time.