Skip to content
Psychotherapy Notes
  • Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Clinical Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LPCC Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LCSW Law & Ethics Exam Prep
  • CE Courses
    • California Law and Ethics 6-Hour for LMFTs, LPCCs, & LCSWs
    • California Law and Ethics for BBS Associates (AMFTs, APCCs, & ASWs) – 2025
    • Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
    • Supervision of California BBS Associates
    • Supervision for Clinical Effectiveness
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (11th ed)
    • Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2025 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
    • Saving Psychotherapy
  • Resources
    • Think Like the Test™ Podcast
    • Exam Prep Articles
  • Blog
    • Blog home
    • Psychology
    • Professional Counseling
    • Family therapy
    • Clinical social work
    • Law and ethics
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Licensure
    • Public policy

Why advocacy work is important for mental health professionals

August 1, 2018August 1, 2018 by Ben Caldwell

US Capitol domeThe mental health professions have long recognized that with our positions and our expertise comes a great deal of responsibility. In exchange for our professional status and the trust we are given to work with vulnerable people in private, we agree to act not just on behalf of our clients, but also on behalf of the larger communities who grant us that very trust. This means maintaining awareness of the laws and policies that impact our clients and communities, and working to change those policies that are not in the community’s best interest.

While each professional organization phrases this obligation differently, they agree that it is part of being a counselor or therapist. Simply put, you are expected to use your specialized knowledge and training to benefit the larger community. It is part of holding the title of a mental health professional.

Those mental health professionals who seek to influence public policy tend not to do it out of a sense of obligation, though. They tend to do this work out of a desire to have an impact on the community that is real, significant, and larger than the impact they can have by working with even a hundred specific cases.

Though their underlying philosophies differ (see my earlier post on the differences between an LMFT, an LPCC, and an LCSW), each of the mental health professions seeks to understand the rules that govern human behavior and relationships, and ultimately to have an impact on not just individuals but communities and cultures. It is this notion that tends to draw the therapists most passionate about advocacy work.

Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs - 5th ed coverEd. note: This post is a slightly-modified excerpt from the chapter on Advocacy in Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs.
&nbsp
Get the book in paperback or digital format here.

Consider, as an example, the statements of various professional organizations several years ago on same-sex marriage. While some therapists were understandably reluctant to wade into such a politically controversial area with their professional hat on, mental health researchers produced a great deal of well-grounded scientific literature on the functioning of families with same-sex couples. We saw in our therapy offices the real impacts of discrimination, in the stresses and symptoms of our clients. Who was better equipped than the mental health community to share with legislators the impact of societal oppression on same-sex couples and families, or to inform legislators of what we could safely say we knew about the long-term impact of growing up with same-sex parents?

If mental health professionals do not fill this kind of information need with good, objective research findings, others will happily fill the information vacuum with pseudoscience or scare tactics. When mental health professionals inform a debate, it makes a real difference: When the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, they cited a brief filed by the American Psychological Association, detailing a number of studies that suggested same-sex couples and their children suffer needlessly from being unable to marry.

This is, of course, simply an example. Your personal politics of course do not need to agree with those of your professional association, and some practitioners opposed same-sex marriage for religious or other reasons. My point here is simply to stress the importance of therapists being involved in policy and advocacy discussions – even when that means therapists will be representing both sides of a debate. Better to have our perspectives on both sides than to have them on neither.

Originally published November 26, 2012. Republished with minor edits and updates August 1, 2018.

Spread the word:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Related articles

Private universities are quietly being bought out
How long does it take to become a counselor?

📣 New Posts 📣

  • Value-based care in mental health: An explainer February 7, 2025
  • Marketing therapy after disasters January 12, 2025
  • Why are there so many delinquent APCC registrations? December 30, 2024
  • ASPPB gives up on requiring Psychology licensing boards to use the EPPP Part 2 October 29, 2024
  • How human therapists can thrive in a world of AI-based therapy August 19, 2024

Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam

Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam - front coverThe easiest way to get ready for California’s MFT Law & Ethics exam. This paperback includes a study guide and more than 100 practice test questions with rationales.

📈 Trending 📈

  • Decoding counselor alphabet soup: LPC, LPCC, LMHC, and more
  • A therapists' union is not the answer
  • An AI therapist can't really do therapy. Many clients will choose it anyway.
  • What's the difference between an MFT (or LMFT), an LPC (or LPCC), and an LCSW?
  • Therapy and coaching: Understanding the differences
High Pass Education logo

Psychotherapy Notes is the official blog of High Pass Education.

All content and images © Copyright 2009-2025 High Pass Education unless otherwise noted.
Some images are used under Creative Commons or other licensing (information embedded).

Psychotherapy Notes, High Pass Education, and the High Pass Education logo are trademarks of High Pass Education.

The opinions expressed on this site are solely those of the author.
While this blog does sometimes cover legal issues, authors are practicing clinicians and not attorneys.
Nothing here should be interpreted as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for consulting with a qualified attorney.
  • Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Clinical Exam Prep
    • California LMFT Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LPCC Law & Ethics Exam Prep
    • California LCSW Law & Ethics Exam Prep
  • CE Courses
    • California Law and Ethics 6-Hour for LMFTs, LPCCs, & LCSWs
    • California Law and Ethics for BBS Associates (AMFTs, APCCs, & ASWs) – 2025
    • Telehealth for California LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs
    • Supervision of California BBS Associates
    • Supervision for Clinical Effectiveness
  • Books
    • Basics of California Law for LMFTs, LPCCs, and LCSWs (11th ed)
    • Preparing for the 2025 California MFT Law & Ethics Exam
    • Preparing for the 2025 California Clinical Social Work Law & Ethics Exam
    • Saving Psychotherapy
  • Resources
    • Think Like the Test™ Podcast
    • Exam Prep Articles
  • Blog
    • Blog home
    • Psychology
    • Professional Counseling
    • Family therapy
    • Clinical social work
    • Law and ethics
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Licensure
    • Public policy