Over the past decade, I’ve written four books and conducted extensive research in psychology. My work is endorsed by psychologists and has changed multiple lives. People say I help them meet themselves where they’re at and I genuinely enjoy this work. It feeds my soul. It’s my life’s purpose.
Readers report that they’ve never seen thought concepts broken down like in thought literacy books. The methods I teach have helped people in a wide variety of situations like with child custody battles, social anxiety, sports performance, career transitions, and generally feeling better without believing they need to fundamentally change themselves to get there.
Attempting the Academic Path
On the suggestion of a professor who believed I’d be welcomed in the psychology circles, I reached out to multiple psychology departments, including my alma mater, Temple University, to pursue a PhD in psychology.
My goal was to expand my knowledge while conducting research on my hypothesis that thought literacy could improve the clinician-patient relationship which is the primary indicator of therapeutic success.
Considering that therapeutic success rates are undeniably low, and the success of thought literacy in real-world application is high, I apprehensively hoped the field might welcome new perspectives.
Encountering Systematic Limitations
However, I wasn’t surprised when I was told that psychology PhD programs required clinical work and for me to focus on being a therapist in clinical practice. Meaning, that the traditional PhD path was not structured to accommodate the type of applied, system-level work I’m pursuing.
This experience gave me direct insight into why the field itself has struggled to evolve and why the mental health crisis continues to get worse. Where innovation is frowned upon, stagnation is bound to occur.
We’re in a “fix it after it’s already broken” cycle, and people are so busy putting out fires, they don’t consider proactive approaches. Then, people like me, who are trying to create those proactive approaches, are being told education is restricted unless they agree to go into the reactive system.
Not About Ability or Dedication
I’m evolving and advancing the field of psychology, but I don’t have a PhD in psychology. Not for lack of ability, interest, or dedication, but because the doors simply weren’t open to the type of work I was driven to do: help people understand their thoughts outside of a therapeutic room.
Unfortunately, this is not new. In 1979, Dr. David Burns sought to bring cognitive behavioral therapy concepts into the mainstream so that the average person could better understand their thoughts.
At the time, the field was skeptical of making these ideas widely accessible, and there was significant resistance. Despite pushback, Burns publishing books that have sold millions of copies and presumably changes countless lives (mine included).
He is largely responsible for popularizing the concept of cognitive distortions and making complex psychological ideas approachable, releasing concepts like all-or-nothing thinking from the technical jargon they were hidden behind.
My attempts to engage established leaders and institutions revealed a consistent barrier to innovation.
Building New Frameworks
With thought literacy, I’m building frameworks and dismantling the doors that have historically kept important psychological information from the people who need it most.
When people question my credentials or point out that I don’t have a PhD, it’s not because I couldn’t pursue those routes, or don’t have reverence for the field, it’s because pursuing a PhD required me to abandon thought literacy.
To me, that reflects the limitations of a system prioritizes academic politics and gatekeeping over helping. Which reinforces why thought literacy is so necessary, especially now. Because this proactive approach creates new pathways and shifts the focus from constraints to meaningful impact.
To learn more about the current state of the mental health care system you can check out this Times article here: America Has Reached Peak Therapy. Why Is Our Mental Health Getting Worse?