Systemic Reform and the Professional Recognition of Healers in Healthcare
1.0 Introduction: A System in Crisis and a Call for a New Paradigm
The systems governing mental health are beset by fundamental design flaws and moral compromises that result in outcomes often detrimental to genuine healing. The landscape of care is in a state of acute crisis, necessitating an urgent and fundamental paradigm shift. The very structures designed to treat disorder are themselves disordered—addicted to the power, control, and privileges afforded by professional degrees and bureaucratic hierarchies. This briefing deconstructs this systemic pathology and proposes a viable, morally grounded path forward that restores integrity to the practice of healing and places the well-being of the citizen above the self-preservation of the institution. Our analysis begins by examining the foundational flaws within the diagnostic frameworks that underpin this broken system.
2.0 The Foundational Flaw: Incomplete Diagnostics and the Industrialization of Care
Accurate diagnostics are not a mere academic exercise; they are the strategic foundation upon which all effective care is built. Flawed and incomplete definitions are the root cause of ineffective treatments, systemic harm, and the perpetuation of a mental health paradigm that fails those it purports to serve. When the very language of the profession is incoherent, the resulting practice will inevitably be compromised, creating a cascade of ethical and clinical failures.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the cornerstone of modern psychiatric practice, is fundamentally incomplete. It critically fails to provide basic, operational definitions for core psychological concepts such as addiction, dissociation, and the unconscious. This definitional void is not a minor oversight; it is a catastrophic flaw that enables the pathologizing of normal human responses to trauma. In the absence of a functional definition for dissociation, for example, natural survival mechanisms are mislabeled as pathology, transforming expressions of distress into clinical disorders. This creates a system where professionals are compelled to prioritize liability and regulatory adherence over the moral-ethical principles that serve the client’s best interests.
This diagnostic failure has enabled the rise of an industrialized model of psychiatric care. It is a dehumanizing system that reduces complex human suffering to a “chemical imbalance rectified by a pill.” This approach systematically bypasses the need for deep understanding, relational connection, and the activation of an individual’s innate healing capacities. Instead of cultivating self-reliance, it fosters dependency on drugs, ensuring continued business for what has become “professional hunger games.” This flawed diagnostic model inevitably forces practitioners into a profound ethical conflict.
3.0 The Ethical Impasse: The Conflict Between “Legal-Ethics” and Moral Imperatives
The tension between legal compliance and moral responsibility is not a rare dilemma for today’s mental health professionals; it is a systemic feature of their practice. This conflict forces well-intentioned practitioners into morally compromised positions, undermining public trust and the integrity of their professions. The system effectively trains professionals to disconnect from their innate moral compass, creating a class of practitioners who are technically compliant but morally compromised.
A critical distinction must be drawn between rigid, rule-based “Legal-Ethics” and the higher standard of “Moral-Ethics.” The latter is not learned from a textbook but is rooted in emotional maturity, spiritual development, and the wisdom of lived experience. A profound truth emerges from this distinction: “to be moral is to be unethical for the right ethical reasons, but is usually against the law.” This principle exposes the moral inversion at the heart of the current system, where adhering to a harmful protocol is considered “ethical,” while acting from a place of moral conscience is deemed a violation.
In jurisdictions like New York State, the “moral character clause” in professional licensing stands as a neglected but powerful principle. If properly enforced, this clause would compel professionals to act on their morals even when they conflict with “immature laws,” thereby exposing the system’s inherent immorality. This conflict is starkly illustrated by contrasting two figures:
- The Licensed Therapist: who “has to do what they were trained to do, even when it goes against their morals.”
- The Healer: who “morally knows when to act morally and when not to.”
These systemic ethical failures are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a deeper, more pervasive pathology within the professions themselves.
4.0 Systemic Pathology: When Professions Exhibit the Addictions They Fail to Define
The critique of the contemporary mental health system must extend beyond its functional failures to a diagnosis of the system itself. This system exhibits the very pathologies—addiction and dissociation—that it profoundly misunderstands and fails to treat in individuals. It is a system that is, in a clinical sense, unwell.
Industrialized psychiatry and its auxiliary professions are “living in denial of the addictions they unconsciously choose not to define.” These are not the addictions of substance or gambling, but the more insidious and socially acceptable compulsions of perfectionism (a drive for flawless, standardized protocols), altruism (a compulsive need to ‘help’ that fosters dependency), and ambition (a pursuit of professional power over client welfare). These drives are, in reality, systemic addictions to power, control, and the maintenance of a flawed status quo.
A concrete case study of this systemic pathology can be found in the “diagnostic privilege fiasco” between Licensed Mental health Counselors (LMHCs) and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) in New York State. This legally created “separate and not equal” dynamic is not a matter of public welfare but a systemic power play rooted in professional hierarchy and control that ultimately restricts public access to care and creates arbitrary barriers to treatment. As a microcosm the LMHC and LCSW pales in comparison to the dynamics between psychiatry, psychology, law, and insurance.
Psychologically, the legal system operates from a “preconventional or concrete stage of psychological development,” akin to the cognitive and moral reasoning of a “7-12 year old.” This developmental diagnosis is justified by the system’s reliance on rigid, black-and-white logic and its fear-based reasoning, which prevent it from grasping the qualitative nuances of moral justice. The only solution to a system this deeply compromised is to introduce a new class of professional guided by a different standard.
5.0 The Proposed Solution: Establishing the “Healer” as a Distinct Moral Profession
The essential counterpoint and solution to the broken mental health system is the formal establishment of the “Healer” as a distinct profession. This is not an alternative therapy to be integrated into the existing framework, but a separate class of professional whose authority and expertise derive from a fundamentally different source.
A Healer is a “class of moral professionals” whose authority is derived from lived experience. This concept is centered on the “wounded healer” archetype—an individual whose personal recovery from “near-death wounds” provides them with the unique capacity and moral fortitude to guide others through their own healing journeys. Their expertise is embodied, not merely intellectual. Their role is to support “nature’s innate ways… by being with, not performing.”
A core practice of the Healer is “undiagnosing.” This involves reframing symptoms not as medical pathology requiring a label, but as natural human responses to “existential, spiritual, and moral betrayal wounds.” By moving away from disempowering labels, the Healer helps individuals reclaim their narrative and cultivate innate wisdom. In stark contrast to licensed professionals, Healers “do not prescribe medicine for a diagnosis.” They possess an innate, experiential understanding of the “difference between sanity and insanity because they have been there and comeback.” The formal recognition of this vital profession is a moral and societal imperative that requires specific, actionable policy changes.
6.0 Actionable Policy Recommendations for Systemic Reform
Addressing the systemic failures identified in this briefing requires decisive and targeted policy action. The following recommendations represent the essential first steps toward creating a more humane, effective, and morally sound mental health landscape that serves the citizen, not the system.
- Formally Recognize the “Healer” Profession as ancient, philosophical, intangible, and moral.
- Accept a distinct professional track for Healers based on demonstrated moral character, recovery from lived experience, and mastery of holistic, dissociation-informed care models, thereby validating lived experience as an essential source of expertise separate from existing licensing bodies.
- Mandate Dissociation-Informed Care and Redefine Addiction.
- Require all licensed mental health professionals to receive training in the Addiction as Dissociation Model (ADM) and formally adopt a transdiagnostic definition of addiction (as emotional dependence or attachment) that includes trauma-related dissociation and behavioral compulsions like perfectionism, altruism, and ambition.
- Prioritize “Moral-Ethics” in Professional Codes of Conduct.
- Reform professional codes of conduct to explicitly prioritize moral-ethical obligations to client well-being over strict legal-ethical adherence, enforcing the “moral character clause” as the primary standard to hold professionals accountable to a higher duty of care.
- Reclassify Psychedelics as Healing Agents and End the “War on Drugs.”
- Immediately end the “War on Drugs” with psychedelics, which is a “war on healing and citizens,” and reclassify naturally occurring psychedelics such as psilocybin and cannabis from controlled substances to “superfoods” or healing agents to remove barriers to their use in guided, therapeutic contexts.
These reforms are foundational to dismantling the current dysfunctional paradigm and building a system worthy of public trust.
7.0 Conclusion: A Mandate for Moral Courage and Systemic Accountability
The current mental health system is not merely failing but is pathologically structured to perpetuate harm. It operates on flawed diagnostics, enforces immoral ethical standards, and is driven by its own systemic addictions to power and control. The fundamental issue lies not with the citizen seeking help, but with the system itself. Systemic recovery, like individual recovery, must begin with a courageous admission of its failures (e.g., Prohibition and War on Drugs”). By admitting powerless one is owning that what they are doing is not working.
This is a moral call to action for the individuals who make up policymakers, professional associations, and governing bodies. It is also an ethical call to following their morals. The moment demands moral courage to enact these fundamental reforms, dismantle the “bureaucratic tyranny” that prioritizes self-preservation over public service, and pave the way for a new era of mental health care. It is time to embrace a new paradigm—one centered on authentic, humane, and effective healing guided by the profound wisdom and moral authority of Healers.
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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/
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O’Brien, A. (2025). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2025a). American Made Addiction Recovery: a healer’s journey through professional recovery. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2025b). Applied Recovery: Post-War on Drugs, Post-COVID, and What Recovery Culture and Citizens Require Moving Forward. Albany, NY: Wounded Healers Institute. Retrieved at woundedhealersinstitute.org/
O’Brien, A. (2025c). Recovering Recovery: How Psychedelic Science Is Ending the War on Drugs. 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.
