Submitted by Cognoscenti in AskRaddle (edited )

For reference, this is in the United States. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but

I'm quitting my job and want to be therapist. I would be unlicensed, doing it on my own time, and doing it for free. I do have experience and knowledge from college. This will be my way of helping my community, away from capitalism, which is what I want to do in life. I would personalize my service to whoever's needs.

Is this legal, even if I'm doing it for no profit, no expectation of fees or donations? If doing this is illegal, are there any ways I could get around this? I just don't want to go to jail.

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heckthepolice2 wrote (edited )

It's probably illegal to call yourself a therapist without a license, since that could be considered fraud. However, I'd imagine you could provide service equivalent to therapy so long as you called it something that isn't protected by licensing (at least officially), kinda like how the term "nutritionist" has no legal definition so anyone can call themself one.

Of course, you couldn't prescribe medications or anything, but talking to people about their mental health and offering advice is definitely not illegal in itself.

Basically, as long as you're open about the fact that you aren't licensed and don't have like a doctorate in psychcology, you should be fine, since unlike say a physician being a therapist doesn't necesarrily entail anything that's illegal without a license (since you are just talking to people). So the only problem should be fraud laws; basically, don't do anything that could make people think you're a trained professional.

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Cognoscenti OP wrote

This is sound advice. I would just need to think of what I could call myself. I think really, I would be a good stepping stone for people who need help, especially who have no money. Someone could start with me, and go to a professional when they are ready

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heckthepolice2 wrote

Maybe something like "amateur mental health advisor"? Obviously the "amateur" might put people off, but I also worry that without including something like that it could be interpreted as fraud. Also a less wordy title would probably be ideal.

Anyway, best of luck. This sounds like a really great thing you're planning to do, and I think that you could really help a lot of people. As someone who has only been able to afford therapy because of my bourgie grandparents, I'm acutely aware of how prohibitively expensive it can be to get help, and I'm really glad that there's someone out there to help people who don't have rich family to leech off of.

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ThisGuyRaddles wrote (edited )

Perhaps use the title “(insert specialty) consultant” or my least favorite, “life coach”.

Edit: punctuation

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heckthepolice2 wrote

The problem with "life coach" is that it will probably attract exactly the kind of rich assholes who don't need free mental health services.

"Consultant" is promising, though I'd be careful with it, as it's generally seen as suggesting some sort of professional expertise. I'm by no means an expert on this though, so that would be something where you'd probably have to look into the specifics of the law more closely.

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rot wrote

life coach could work as it has that 'prestige' of being associated with rich assholes but could still be marketed towards us proles

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tamarack wrote

Get a ULC ministry (like, the free internet one, ulc.org) and, if pressed, say your work is religious. If pressed further ("what religion might that be?"), just tell 'em "nondenominational christian", "crunchy earth-worshipping", or something similar depending on how shitty your state is about those sorts of things and how comfortable you are in the exquisite art of bullshit.

Framing your work in religious terms also means you can probably invoke the confessional privilege to protect your clients' privacy.

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