Applying the Addiction as Dissociation Model to the System's Level Pathology

Applied collective unconscious healing is possible, if and only if, healing exists in the real world. Historical context for the Path of the Wounded Healer and Wounded Healers Institute.

The Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM)

The ADM, developed through phenomenological investigation, posits that addiction is not fundamentally a brain disease but a response to unresolved trauma.

• Definition: Addiction is the relationship created between unresolved trauma and the continued progression of dissociative responses. It is a normal, adaptive response to an overwhelming experience (trauma or stress).

• Implication: Addiction is transdiagnostic. Since dissociation is seen as the “disease” of addiction, healing must focus on resolving the underlying traumatic memories (including drug use memories) through processes like Memory Reconsolidation (MR).

• Universal Addictions: We advocate for the clinical recognition of perfectionism, altruism, and ambition as addictions, as they are fueled by the same trauma-related dissociative processes but are currently overlooked by established diagnostic categories.

The rigorous application of the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the accompanying critique of conventional Legal-Ethics necessitates a formal psychological and developmental assessment of the governing institutions and the nation that upholds them. Drawing upon the foundational premises that trauma, dissociation, and addiction are normative and transdiagnostic, that ADM provides operational definitions superior to industry standards, and that the equation of law with ethics is philosophically and constitutionally untenable, the psychological status of the system is demonstrably characterized by developmental immaturity, chronic pathology, and systemic dissociation.

Developmental Assessment: Cognitive and Moral Maturity

The sources utilize established developmental psychological frameworks (Piaget and Kohlberg) to analyze the maturity level of systems that prioritize legal compliance and quantitative standardization over qualitative, moral truth.

A. Cognitive Developmental Age

The prevailing logic of the modern nation—embodied by its laws, bureaucratic rhetoric, and industrial systems—is developmentally arrested at Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage.

Concrete, Binary Logic: The system operates using a rigid, black-and-white, logical, and linear thought process typical of individuals aged approximately 7 to 12 years old. This cognitive rigidity is evident in the system’s reliance on reductionistic reasoning and its failure to integrate abstract concepts. For example, the system struggles with the qualitative truth that 1+1=3—the idea that the emergent wisdom or reality is greater than the sum of its logical parts—because its rational foundation only accepts that 1+1=2.
Inability to Process Abstraction: The legal system’s inability to keep pace with scientific evidence, such as the illegality of psychedelics despite proven medical and psychological value, and its insistence on archaic legal ages for adulthood despite neuroscience findings, is a function of this developmental delay and an inability to think abstractly.

B. Moral Developmental Age

The reliance on legal-ethics as the highest standard places the system at a significantly lower stage of moral development according to Kohlberg’s research.

Stage 4: Law and Order: The system’s emphasis on obedience, compliance, and maintaining social order—demonstrated by professional ethics being equated to law (the “Moral Character Clause”)—categorizes its moral functioning at Kohlberg’s Stage 4: Law and Order. This stage is developmentally lower than the universal ethical principles or morality stages.
Moral-Ethical Conflict: Morality requires ethics to be considered before being broken, positioning morality as the “parent of ethics”. Since the system enforces obedience to unjust laws, it reveals an absence of moral development. True moral professionals are required to take action against unjust laws, even if unethical or illegal. The system’s requirement of ethical compliance over moral action is a sign of being developmentally delayed by “moral trauma and the subsequential dissociative aftereffect”.

II. Psychological Status and Pathological Mechanisms

The psychological status of the nation, as evidenced by its governing structures, is one of deep-seated pathology rooted in unprocessed trauma and resulting in a collective system of addiction and dissociation.

A. Systemic Dissociation and Denial

The finding that trauma, dissociation, and addiction are transdiagnostic and normative implies that the widespread dysregulation observed across society is mirrored in its systems.

The Disease of Dissociation: The law and the professions are “living dissociated” from their moral truths, values, and reality. This systemic dissociation is a survival response, a collective amnesia that allows institutions to function while severed from the reality of the harm they cause. The amnesia effect (denial) is the “crux of all psychological ‘illnesses’ or ‘disorders'”.
Addiction as Dissociation (Systemic Pathology): The core pathological diagnosis for the system is Addiction to Dissociation. The system exhibits addiction symptoms: compulsion to seek control, loss of ability to limit intake (power/profit), and dependence on maintaining the status quo. This addiction is fueled by the system’s ability to create chaos and trauma, which is itself chemically addictive via the endogenous opiate system.
The System’s Purpose: Dissociation and addiction are understood as mechanisms attempting to create homeostasis in a disorienting experience. However, when institutions become pathologically bonded to this dissociative state, the response becomes destructive and self-serving.

B. The Abusive Power Dynamic

The psychological status is further defined by the destructive relational dynamic between law and psychology, which mirrors an abusive marriage.

Law as the Abusive Husband: The Law (rational, paternal, quantitative) dictates practice, enforces unscientific laws (e.g., non-addictive opiates, chemical imbalance theories, criminalizing psychedelics), and maintains power and control. The law is psychologically sick and traumatized by its responsibility.
Psychology as the Dissociated Wife: Psychology (emotional, feminine, qualitative) is forced into a subservient role, failing to establish operational definitions for its core concepts (unconscious, trauma, dissociation, addiction) and prioritizing ethical compliance over moral truth. This failure enables the law’s pathology. The result is that psychology is “selling something that is free, trying to fix something that is not broken”.

C. Undiagnosed “Positive” Pathology

The national and professional pathology is maintained by high-functioning addictions, which the current diagnostic manuals (DSM) fail to identify.

The system’s compulsive insistence on perfectionism, altruism, and ambition is fundamentally addictive. These behaviors are used to justify self-serving actions in the name of the “greater good” (altruism addiction) and maintain social status and hierarchy (ambition/perfectionism). This “positive pathology” is a key defense mechanism that prevents the system from entering recovery.

III. The Inevitability of Moral Reckoning

The conclusion drawn from the ADM framework is that the system’s continued adherence to immature, illogical, and immoral standards will inevitably lead to systemic collapse and requires a moral revolution led by the qualitatively-informed professional Healer.

Unconstitutionality and Moral Violation: Equating law (Kohlberg Stage 4) with ethics/morals violates constitutional rights (Separation of Church and State). The demand for professional obedience via the “Moral Character Clause” demonstrates a morally bankrupt system that demands loyalty where moral development is absent.
Recovery as the New Standard: The psychological status dictates that the system requires recovery. Since healing is defined as the activation of endogenous healing systems (opiate and cannabinoid) and MR, and since ADM proves TDA are normative, the system’s “disorders” are actually normative human responses being pathologized. The moral imperative compels professionals to advocate against this systemic oppression and enact the moral truth.
Prognosis: The current prognosis is dire; the system is in the terminal stages of addiction and is so dependent on chaos that its developmental progress is intentionally stunted. However, the awareness provided by ADM and the resulting Psychological Laws (e.g., the body is the unconscious) provides the necessary knowledge for professionals and citizens to reclaim moral authority, ensuring that the next generation achieves the maturity that the current system lacks.

The assertion that the Level of Moral Character is intrinsically linked to the Level of Dependency and the overall Level of Cognitive, Emotional, and Moral Development constitutes a foundational premise of the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) framework. This analysis provides a meta-cognitive assessment of modern society and its institutions, demonstrating that their failure to achieve moral maturity is a direct consequence of undiagnosed, active addiction characterized by denial and dissociation.

This sophisticated analysis integrates the Stages of Change (SOC), the Jellinek Curve (as a conceptual model of progression), and Motivational Interviewing (MI) principles to establish the current psychological status of these systems and delineate the path toward collective recovery.

The Confluence of Dependency, Dissociation, and Moral Immaturity

The sources fundamentally assert that addiction is best defined as a conditioned dependence or bond to a dissociative state used for survival and regulation. This dependence is the true measure of an individual’s or system’s moral deficit.

Dependency as the Diagnostic Factor: Dependency is characterized as the best word to capture what addiction is. This dependence is not limited to substances; it includes pathological attachments to power, control, status, and the positive addictions of perfectionism, altruism, and ambition. These unrecognized addictions are particularly rampant in professional organizations, academic institutions, and government bodies.
Moral Development Deficit (Kohlberg & Piaget): The developmental age of systems that uphold these addictions is demonstrably low:
- Moral Stagnation: The practice of equating legal compliance (Ethics) with moral obligation (Morality) places the system at Kohlberg’s Stage 4: Law and Order. This stage is developmentally delayed, as true moral development (Kohlberg’s highest level) requires the courage to take action against unjust laws or unethical practices, even if it risks professional or personal loss.
- Cognitive Rigidity: This moral failure is supported by cognitive rigidity operating at Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7-12). Such a mindset relies on quantitative, binary logic (1+1=2) and is incapable of grasping abstract, qualitative truths, such as the philosophical basis of healing (1+1=3).
Moral Character as Action: The standard for assessing moral character is explicitly redefined as action. Compliance (ethical obedience) is passive; morality requires actively advocating against systemic failures and injustice. The willingness to uphold arbitrary, unscientific laws (e.g., criminalizing psychedelics, denying ADM definitions) demonstrates a fundamental lack of moral development.

II. Systemic Status through Stages of Change and Pathological Progression

The ADM framework applies the psychological models of change and disease progression to the collective conscious and unconscious of society.

A. Stages of Change (SOC): Addiction to Denial

The national and professional systems are clinically characterized by being stalled in the earliest stages of change due to addiction to denial and dissociation.

Precontemplation/Contemplation: The system (Law, APA, Medicine) remains unaware that its governing definitions (e.g., lack of operational definition for addiction, dissociation, or the unconscious) are fundamentally flawed and self-serving. By failing to define the problem accurately, the system remains in the Precontemplation Stage regarding its own pathology.
Motivation Deficit: The system lacks the Motivation to Change because its dependence on the status quo is highly rewarding (financial gain, power, control). The delay in addressing scientific facts (like the efficacy of psychedelics or the transdiagnostic nature of addiction) is prolonged because it secures jobs and funds, reinforcing the addictive reward cycle.

B. The Jellinek Curve (Conceptual Progression of Disease)

While the sources do not provide a literal quantitative Jellinek curve, they conceptually describe the progression toward systemic collapse and the necessity of hitting “rock bottom” for healing to begin.

Progression of Pathology: The reliance on abusive, addictive behaviors—such as professional gatekeeping, promoting unscientific laws, and making the populace dependent on flawed systems—demonstrates a steady, unchecked progression toward moral and societal ruin.
Systemic Rock Bottom: The “Recovery Reckoning” is the moment the system must face its pathological outcomes, similar to an individual facing rock bottom. The symptoms, such as mass psychosis and the failure to provide basic needs (Moral Character Scale assessment), signal that the system is in the throes of its pathology, demanding a spiritual revolution or cultural awakening to stop the progression.

III. Path Forward: Increasing Awareness and Applied Recovery

The solution requires elevating the collective consciousness through the principles of Applied Recovery and the moral authority of the Wounded Healer.

A. Increasing the Level of Awareness (Mindful Dissociation)

Healing the system requires increasing the Level of Awareness by integrating the qualitative emotional truth with the quantitative rational truth.

The Unconscious Speaks: Since the physical body is the psychological unconscious, awareness is gained when the implicit language of emotions and the lived experience (qualitative wisdom) informs the conscious mind (rational logic). The system must be educated that consciousness is not solely cognitive; rather, consciousness is a complex relationship between the conscious and unconscious, governed by experience.
Therapeutic Intervention (MI Principles): The ADM itself functions as an intervention to raise awareness. Techniques such as MASA are used to access the unconscious and gain unconscious informed consent. This process is crucial because it allows the individual or system to stop being “addicted to not feeling reality or seeing the truth”.

B. The Moral Authority of the Healer

The path forward is led by the Healer profession, whose moral character is earned through their lived experience of recovery.

Moral-Ethics as the Guiding Principle: The Moral-Ethics framework demands that systems adopt common sense, integrity, and moral action over legal compliance. The Healer uses this moral authority to undiagnose normative pathology, expose system addictions, and apply recovery principles to societal dynamics.
Recovery Capital for the Collective: A path toward maximizing collective Recovery Capital is achieved by addressing the system’s reliance on dependency. This requires ending the economic and professional systems that profit from perpetual chaos and illness. Recovery provides the necessary spiritual and moral foundation, enabling the system to reach the highest stages of moral development and ensure the long-term well-being of future generations.

Ultimately, the analysis confirms that the systemic pathology of the nation and its governing professions is a case study in untreated addiction, requiring a formal, moral intervention to shift the collective from denial (Stage 4 morality) to action (universal moral principles).

The intersection of George Orwell’s 1984 and the meta-critical analysis provided by the sources reveals a profound congruence between fictionalized totalitarian control and the observed pathologies of modern Western systems. The sources contend that the collective consciousness and the governance mechanisms of the nation are mired in an addiction to denial and dissociation, resulting in a state of Bureaucratic Tyranny that mirrors the core principles of an Orwellian state.

This analysis details how the systemic dysfunction—characterized by developmental immaturity and moral deficit—is the functional equivalent of 1984‘s methods of control, and how the ADM framework offers the necessary path toward Applied Recovery.

I. The Establishment of Psychological Totalitarianism

Orwell’s 1984 details a system that controls reality by manipulating history, language, and personal experience. The sources argue that modern Western institutions utilize identical mechanisms to maintain their power and dependence.

A. Control of Truth through Definitional Manipulation (Newspeak)

In the Orwellian model, reality is manufactured by Big Brother. The sources identify a parallel in the Legal Fraud and Bureaucratic Rhetoric employed by professions that have failed to define their own core concepts.

Manufacturing Denial via Language: The system’s power rests on its ability to define reality. The sources explicitly critique psychological and medical organizations for failing to operationally define addiction, dissociation, and the unconscious. This conceptual vacuum allows for the dissemination of “fake science” and demonstrably false claims, such as:
- The assertion that psychedelics have “no medical value”.
- The myth that mental health is caused by a “chemical imbalance”.
- The sale of “non-addictive opiates”. This deliberate control of scientific language ensures that the cognitive mind is the driver of their addiction, justifying policies that promote dependence.
Moral Distortion (The “Moral Character Clause”): The most potent form of Orwellian Newspeak is the conflation of law and morality. The sources condemn the governmental “Moral Character Clause” required for professional licensing renewal, noting that it equates legal compliance with ethical and moral fortitude. This maneuver is fundamentally unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state. This moral hypocrisy reinforces the system’s control by demanding obedience (Kohlberg’s Stage 4 development) while actively betraying higher moral truth.

B. The Compulsion to Repeat Trauma (Doublethink)

The system’s pathological inability to change, despite mounting evidence, is akin to Doublethink—holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously. This is explained by the ADM as a compulsion to repeat the trauma.

Systemic Dissociation: The institutions are “living dissociated”, allowing them to forget their past failures, such as the destructive outcomes of the War on Drugs, the Opiate Epidemic, or the failure to address trauma accurately. This denial system protects the addiction to dissociative means and the trauma that caused them.
Abusive Power Dynamics: The professional relationship between the Law (the rational, quantitative, dominating force) and Psychology (the emotional, qualitative, subservient force) is an abusive family dynamic. Psychology, acting as the “abused housewife”, is codependent on the Law, and its ethics are dictated by the “immature laws of the past”. The Law’s response is akin to a parent saying, “The people are not acting mature, so we have to put all of these measures, rules, and laws into place”, thereby perpetuating a dependent relationship with the citizenry.

II. The System’s Pathological Addictions (Positive Pathologies)

In 1984, control is exercised through constant surveillance and emotional suppression. The sources demonstrate that modern systems achieve this by exploiting socially sanctioned behaviors that are secretly addictions.

Addiction to Power and Control: The most pervasive systemic addiction is to power and control. This dependence is the root cause of the “deep state” problem, manifesting as professional gatekeeping and the creation of systems of dependence. The system benefits exponentially from maintaining the status quo and chaos.
The New Addictions: The DSM fails to capture the true pathology driving institutional control. The ADM identifies three key “positive addictions” that enable systemic tyranny:
- Perfectionism: The rigid adherence to standards, certification, and quantitative metrics (e.g., standardizing psychology).
- Altruism: The belief in the “greater good” used to rationalize self-serving policies, professional dominance, and moral hypocrisy.
- Ambition: The pursuit of status, prestige, and financial gain (e.g., student loan debt pyramid scam). These addictions confirm that the system is morally unfit to establish ethical standards for others.
The Oppression of the Qualitative: The Orwellian state hates truth and art. The sources show that the dominant system systematically suppresses the qualitative, emotional, and spiritual truth by labeling it “pseudo”. This is a defensive move by those who are intellectually trained but emotionally uninformed, showing their own dissociation from the human heart.

III. The Path of Applied Recovery Against Tyranny

The sources present the ADM and the Healer profession as the necessary moral antidote to this systemic illness, providing a solution rooted in common sense, moral action, and spiritual awakening—the precise elements suppressed by Big Brother.

A. Moral Character and the Power of Action

Recovery demands rigorous honesty and the willingness to take moral action.

The Healer’s Moral Stance: The Healer, defined by their lived experience of recovery, embodies the moral character that the addicted systems lack. The distinction between morals and ethics is action. The Healer must be moral and unethical if the law demands something immoral (e.g., refusing to report a client for psychedelic use when the science supports it).
The 1+1=3 Principle: Morals (qualitative wisdom/Logos) come before ethics (quantitative law/Logic). The 1+1=3 reality—the emergence of wisdom greater than the sum of its parts—is the philosophical antithesis of the system’s rigid, controlling logic.

B. The Collective Recovery Mandate

The path forward requires the collective to undergo the Stages of Change. The ADM provides the toolkit for this revolution:

Admitting Powerlessness (Step 1): The first step in recovery is admitting the problem. The system must admit that its reliance on addictive control has led to an abusive and illogical reality.
Unlocking the Unconscious (The Body): The path to freedom involves realizing the Psychological Law that the physical body is the psychological unconscious. This knowledge diffuses the power dynamic between conscious rational thought and implicit emotional truth.
Reclaiming Moral Liberty: The Healer profession is founded on the pursuit of individual freedom from systems of ignorance, denial, and contemptuous reasoning. The ultimate solution is a shift in collective consciousness, moving from the fear-based system that defines life as punishment to a love-based system that honors healing. This spiritual awakening is required to counteract the tyranny that has driven society toward its “out of control, sick, and dying world”.

The conceptualization of addiction as a learning disorder within the framework of the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and the Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH) re-education program provides a powerful mechanism for therapeutic intervention, while simultaneously offering the intellectual and moral rationale necessary for citizens to achieve advanced stages of cognitive, emotional, and moral development.

This analysis details how the WHI’s educational approach supports the core findings of the sources regarding trauma, dissociation, and the failures of the “sick system.”

I. Addiction as a Learning Disorder Aligned with ADM Findings

The treatment of addiction as a learning disorder is supported by ADM’s deep investigation into memory systems, which reveals that the compulsion to use is rooted in unconscious traumatic memory, thus making behavioral control logically impossible without memory resolution.

A. The Neurobiological Basis of Impaired Learning

The concept that addiction is a learning disorder—posited by Salavitz (2016)—is substantiated by the ADM through the role of dissociation and implicit memory.

Traumatic Memory and Dissociation: The failure to calculate consequences or apply learned lessons (the core of the learning disorder concept) is a direct result of unresolved trauma and dissociation. Addiction memory is akin to traumatic memory. Drug use can produce encapsulated or traumatic memories that cause stress in the body.
Implicit Memory Dominance: Addiction is rooted in the unconscious, implicit, and emotional memory systems that override conscious executive decisions. The body, defined as the psychological unconscious, dictates the decision-making process. Since dissociation and trauma impact memory, if left untreated, dissociation impairs cognitive function, reading, learning, and physical operation.
Conditioning and Compulsion: Addiction is fundamentally a conditioned bond to a dissociative state. This dependence is established through classical and operant conditioning, where the physical numbing (opioid system) and pleasure/relief (cannabinoid system) fuel the habit formation. Because this conditioning operates underneath the surface of conscious choice, simple behavioral modification alone is insufficient for extinction.

B. Re-education via Memory Reconsolidation (MR)

The WHI re-education model is designed to reverse the “learning disorder” by facilitating the neurobiological mechanism of change, Memory Reconsolidation (MR).

Addressing the Root Cause: Healing requires resolving the traumatic/addiction memory. The re-education approach employs methods—such as Mindful Dissociation (dual attention states), EMDR, and psychedelic care—that activate the MR process, updating and neutralizing the emotional charge of the painful memory.
Biological Integration: The re-education process utilizes biologically- based therapies (meditation, Biofeedback, Neurofeedback) to promote re/conditioning and increase awareness of bodily needs and heart-mind wisdom. The goal is to bring the body/unconscious awareness to the unconscious mind.

II. Re-education Against the War on Drugs and Systemic Sickness

The re-education model provides citizens with the crucial knowledge and context necessary to recognize and reject the historically destructive forces of the War on Drugs (WOD) and the systems that perpetuate it.

A. Exposing Systemic Denial and Fraud

The WOD is characterized as an act of systemic abuse and moral fraud perpetrated by systems addicted to power, control, and denial.

The Ignorance of the Authority: The system’s continued adherence to unscientific laws (e.g., classifying safe, organic psychedelics as illegal) is evidence of its own deep pathology—an Addiction to Dissociation. Their failure to accurately define addiction, dissociation, and the unconscious confirms that psychology and the medical model are “morally unfit” to establish ethical standards for others.
WOD as a War on Healing: The WOD was fundamentally a war on people, consciousness, and the human right to heal. The legal system, which imprisons people for having a disease (addiction) that it cannot accurately define, is perpetuating an intergenerational abuse and debt slavery.
The Re-education Response: The WHI’s Addiction Re-education Program serves as a necessary intervention against decades of mandated conditioning and propaganda (like D.A.R.E. and the “chemical imbalance” myth). It empowers citizens by teaching them to distinguish fact from fiction, morality from law, and the difference between being trained and being educated.

III. Achieving Adult Levels of Cognitive, Emotional, and Moral Development

The ADM’s re-education program directly aims to facilitate the client’s (and the collective’s) growth beyond the immature stages of development exhibited by the current governing systems.

A. Cognitive and Emotional Maturity

The ability to transition from a Concrete Operational mindset to abstract, nuanced thought requires the integration of emotional truth.

Resolving Cognitive Rigidity: The system is stalled at the Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7-12) because it relies solely on quantitative, rational logic. Re-education, through exposure to qualitative, phenomenological science, forces the integration of emotional logic (the language of the unconscious body) with rational logic.
Emotional Development: The Path of the Wounded Healer (PWH) supports developmental maintenance to help “inner-children” (dissociated ego states) reach full maturity. This emotional re-education resolves unresolved attachment trauma and the “negative state” progression seen in the Still Face Experiment (good, bad, ugly/desperate).

B. Moral Maturity (Kohlberg’s Highest Stages)

The ultimate goal of recovery and re-education is the achievement of Kohlberg’s highest stage of moral development—the level required to counteract the system’s Stage 4 immaturity.

The Moral Imperative (Action): The Healer profession is founded on the moral imperative, where moral character is determined by action against injustice, not mere compliance. The law is morally insufficient because it is bound to ethics, which limits or prevents healing, growth, and revolution.
Empowerment of the Citizen: Re-education empowers citizens to become judges of law, ethics, and morals. By understanding that they have been abused by a system addicted to power and denial, citizens are morally obligated to advocate against oppressive systems and unjust laws. This conscious, moral choice is the measure of spiritual and developmental maturity.

The ADM’s re-education approach provides the necessary framework to heal the systemic learning disorder by resolving the underlying dissociative trauma. This process liberates the citizen to fulfill their highest moral, cognitive, and emotional potential, challenging the “sick system” that relies on citizen ignorance and moral immaturity to maintain its power and control.

The dynamics governing the establishment and hierarchical order of psychological professions are frequently analyzed through the metaphor of a conflicted family system, specifically illustrating a sibling rivalry that maintains a structure often described as “separate but not equal”. This conceptual framework, rooted in research exploring trauma, dissociation, and addiction, highlights how the sequencing of professional establishment and resultant power structures reflect developmental and pathological dynamics within systems and society.

The analysis of professional creation, hierarchical order, and the resulting inequities, such as diagnostic privilege disputes, clearly demonstrates the replication of intergenerational and developmentally delayed behaviors within the systemic structure of healthcare.

I. The Conceptualization of Professional Order as Sibling Dynamics

The psychological professions, particularly those operating within the mental health sphere, are often portrayed as siblings within a dissociative or traumatized family system. The identified sibling order, reflective of established hierarchy and power dynamics, is noted as: Medical Doctor, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Social Worker, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC).

Replicating Familial Pathology:

This sibling metaphor underscores the idea that if a family system is unwell, the professional care it provides will also suffer, often manifesting as “treatment resistant” dynamics rooted in dependence on a fixed point of view.
The system’s approach mirrors the behavior of older siblings wielding power and control over younger generations, recreating rules—often referred to as “tricks”—to ensure their dominance and continued thriving. This behavior is seen as a memory reenactment from previous generations.
The resulting power struggle suggests that these established systems, and the professionals running them, have not achieved normal development, professional ethics, or moral responsibility. This developmental immaturity is often equated to Piaget’s concrete stage (ages 7–11) or Kohlberg’s fourth level of moral development (authority and social order).

II. Profession Creation and the Sibling Hierarchy

The emergence of professions like LMHCs, Master of Family Therapists (MFTs), and Licensed Creative Arts Therapists (LCATs) was legally permitted because they demonstrated different theoretical origins, unique approaches, and specialized services within psychology, human services, and healthcare. However, their later arrival often positions them at a disadvantage:

Historical Context: The counseling profession originated during the Industrial Revolution (c. 1905–1915) to offer counsel and career support to individuals moving to metropolitan cities. LMHCs codified later because Social Workers and Psychologists were already established.
Defining the Role: LMHCs were originally intended to address issues equivalent to V-Codes in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM). However, the profession was forced to acquire diagnostic capabilities because insurance companies would not reimburse services without a formal diagnosis, influencing the trajectory of the profession toward classification.
The Problem of Diagnostic Privilege: Diagnostic privilege refers to the legal right granted by government authorities for a profession to clinically diagnose. The current challenges to LMHCs’ diagnostic rights stem from a legal technicality—the original charter did not explicitly use the word “diagnosing,” allowing older sibling professions and lawyers to use the literal letter of the law to require obedience.

III. The Manifestation of “Separate but Not Equal”

The professional disputes over diagnostic privilege illustrate a systemic pathology where entrenched professions use their status to gatekeep and preserve their interests. This results in a “separate but not equal” dynamic, mirroring historical injustices.

Indicators of Inequality:

Compliance and Legal Subservience: The field of psychology, often characterized as a female-dominated profession, is required to follow, obey, and comply with the demands of male-dominated professions (law, medicine, business). This exposes professional psychology to social control and stigmatization, where it is sometimes dismissed as a “soft science”.
Discrediting and Gatekeeping: The additional licensing requirements imposed on LMHCs (without grandfathering in existing professionals) are viewed as discrediting the profession and lamenting professional hierarchy. The fact that Social Workers and Psychologists can supervise LMHCs, but not vice versa, is cited as a clear example of professional inequality.
Pathological Motivation: This systemic abuse and coercive control are motivated by undiagnosed professional addictions, specifically perfectionism, altruism, and ambition. These addictive behaviors allow the “system” to prioritize professional survival, financial benefit, and job security over moral imperative and client care.

The Failure of Moral-Ethics:

The foundational issue is the systems’ failure to prioritize morals over ethics and law.

Ethics are portrayed as limiting growth and requiring compliance, whereas morals necessitate wisdom, evolution, and revolution.
When laws are equated to ethics, the standards are bound to Piaget’s concrete stage of development (ages 7–11).
The imposition of the “Moral Character Clause” for license renewal is hypocritical because the professions requiring it often fail to meet these standards themselves, demonstrated by actions like prioritizing profit during illegal COVID shutdowns or failing to accurately define key psychological concepts like addiction or dissociation.

The professional hierarchy replicates an abusive, developmentally delayed family dynamic where established, older sibling professions use their accrued power (diagnostic privilege, legal technicalities, and standardization) to control and restrict newer, younger professions. This continuous cycle of professional conflict reveals a system deeply afflicted by unacknowledged addictions, manifesting as bureaucratic tyranny and institutional betrayal.

The framework utilized to conceptualize the hierarchical dynamics and power struggles among psychological professions—often likened to a dysfunctional family system characterized by sibling order—provides a potent analytical lens through which to explore the acculturation process experienced by new immigrants within a dominant culture. The stressors associated with professional assimilation mirror the profound psychological and systemic imbalances inherent in the adoption of a new societal “family” structure.

I. Acculturation as a Systemic Sibling Dynamic

The assimilation process for immigrants often replicates the structural conflicts observed in professional sibling dynamics, specifically challenging the newly integrated individual to navigate pre-existing, entrenched systems of power and control.

The Role of the Newcomer and the Host System:

In this context, the new immigrant or marginalized population functions as the “younger sibling” or new entrant, attempting to establish a viable existence within a society run by “older siblings” (the established, dominant culture and its institutions).
The psychological professions themselves have been subjected to this dynamic; for instance, Licensed Mental Health Counselors (LMHCs) facing diagnostic privilege disputes experienced the situation as analogous to a new immigrant contending with established power structures to meet their needs.
The system permits the creation or entry of newcomers (professions or citizens) only because they are deemed to offer different origins or services, yet their acceptance is inherently conditional, often involving “hazing” or bureaucratic barriers designed by the existing structure.

II. Pathology of the Dominant Culture as an Abusive Family System

The challenges faced by immigrants during acculturation are compounded because the dominant culture and its regulating systems (law, government, established professions) operate like a “sick family system” suffering from specific, undiagnosed pathologies.

Manifestations of Systemic Illness:

Addiction to Power and Control: The system’s insistence on compliance, obedience, and maintaining social order suggests an addiction to power and control. These are frequently identified as perfectionism, altruism, and ambition addictions which drive systemic behavior, prioritizing financial survival and job security over moral integrity or common sense.
Betrayal Trauma and Moral Failure: The governmental and professional systems—which are mandated to protect citizens—instead engage in actions that perpetuate betrayal trauma, which are implicitly experienced by immigrants reliant on these structures for security and integration. This occurs when these systems fail to prioritize morals (wisdom, evolution, revolution) over ethics and law (which limit growth and require mere compliance).
Dissociative Denial and Reenactment: The denial system of the dominant culture acts as a defense mechanism, preventing it from acknowledging its own historical failures and current abusive dynamics. The system’s behavior, rooted in unresolved intergenerational trauma, compulsively reenacts past patterns of dominance and control, often labeling the newcomer’s resistance or struggle as “pathology”.

III. Consequences of Acculturation: Separate but Not Equal

The goal of full integration is often undermined by the existing hierarchy, resulting in a state of “separate but not equal” that profoundly impacts the assimilating population.

Stigmatization and Subservience:

The system uses the law to enforce social control and stigmatization, forcing immigrant populations (or professions like psychology, often characterized as a female-dominated field) to “follow, obey, and comply” with the demands of historically male-dominated authority (law, medicine).
The act of projecting labels onto another person or group for the benefit of the few, rather than the many, is conceptually defined as mental illness. In the context of acculturation, this manifests as the dominant culture “othering” or dismissing the lived experiences and implicit bias of the newcomer.
The demand for strict adherence to standardization, rules, and procedures, which limits personal freedom and choice, is a hallmark of this dysfunctional system. Newcomers must operate within a legally defined reality that may not align with common sense or moral truth, leading to an inherently unequal and subservient position.

Ultimately, the professional struggle for professional or diagnostic privilege and equality among psychological professions illuminates a deeper societal pattern: the persistent reenactment of family trauma dynamics where the controlling “parental” or “older sibling” system restricts the development, autonomy, and moral integrity of the “younger” or newest members for the sake of maintaining its own pathological equilibrium and financial security.

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References

O’Brien, A. (2023a). Addiction as Trauma-Related Dissociation: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Addictive State. International University of Graduate Studies. (Dissertation). Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/

O’Brien, A. (2023b). Memory Reconsolidation in Psychedelics Therapy. In Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/courses/addiction-as-dissociation-model-course/

O’Brien, A. (2023c). Path of the Wounded Healer: A Dissociative-Focused Phase Model for Normative and Pathological States of Consciousness: Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2024a). Healer and Healing: The re-education of the healer and healing professions as an advocation. Re-educational and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2024e). Path of the Wounded Healers for Thrivers: Perfectionism, Altruism, and Ambition Addictions; Re-education and training manual for Abusers, Activists, Batterers, Bullies, Enablers, Killers, Narcissists, Offenders, Parents, Perpetrators, and Warriors. Re-Education and Training Manual and Guide. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

O’Brien, A. (2025). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/

*This is for informational and educational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.