Correct me if I'm wrong but voluntarily seeing a psychiatrist/psychologist over a bout of depression is not being adjudicated mentally defective, nor is it involuntary commitment to an institution of mental health. Your parents may have instructed you, as a minor, to do so, but they also held your powers since you were a minor, and when you turned 18, the age of majority, you still continued treatment, indicating a voluntary commitment to your counseling. I would not even consider listing this on anything, much less a document which determines whether you can defend yourself in public (or not).
Well, I received my LTCH with no issues. I simply answered "no" on the mental health questions. 35-47-1-7 states a proper person has never been "committed", not just received therapy. The questions on the form don't match the requirements in the law.
My parents sent me to "therapy" as a teen as well. They thought I was "troubled". I thought was a teenager. Turns out THEY were the ones needing therapy (later divorced), and *I* am the sane one.
Good luck on your app. Sounds like you have it handled.
Here's 35-47-1-7(7): "'Proper person' means a person who . . . does not make a false statement of material fact on the person's application";
...If your letter doesn't fly, and they require a note from a Psychologist, here's what I would do: Find a Psychologist, make an appointment, tell them why you're visiting, have them write you a letter addressed to ISP after meeting with you a couple of times stating that they see you as fit to obtain an LTCH...
Don't think you'll need luck per se, because it is a viable option. Again, I said it would be a last resort if other options aren't working. Also, as a note, I abbreviate (and possibly unintentionally trivialized the process, my apologies) the process with see psych, explain, get LTCH.Good luck with that.
It is likely not to be an easy task. We therapists are quite concerned about liability. We probably tend to be more liberal than not and probably tend to be more anti-gun than not.
I am a gun owner, LTCH holder, and INGO member. I would be disinclined to sign off after one or two meetings with someone that I did not know extremely well. You would be asking me to make an educated guess. If I get it wrong, I'm the guy that gets sued and it is my license at stake. I am not willing to risk spending the rest of my life flipping burgers for you. If I have even the slightest concern about you, I wouldn't sign.
You look hard enough and you will find somebody. It will be the same sort of person like the MD willing to give you a slip for HR to cover a day when you were on the golf course.
If you find someone, be prepared to pay for these services out of pocket:
Once again, if you were never committed, you never had a 72-hour psychiatric hold, if you never had an LEO encounter for a mental health issue odds are no one is ever going to know. Therapists are among the world's best secret keepers and privacy laws are on your side.
- Your insurance company covers services that are medically necessary.
- It is not medically necessary to get a license to carry a handgun.
- Guess what the therapist needs to do to bill your insurance company? He/she has to assign you a psychiatric diagnosis or the company won't pay him/her (-- and then you are right back where you started?)
...I would wonder how you would feel if you actually had a few sessions with the OP?...I'd think that after a few sessions, you, as a quality psychologist could determine whether or not he was in there 'faking it' to just get you to sign off, versus evaluating him honestly?...if he came in and told you his past 'mental history' and said: "Look, I'd like an honest evaluation from a professional regarding my therapy history and current mental state. Would you be willing to talk to me about my anxiety/past depression (real or perceived) and help me decide if I'm a good candidate in solid mental capacity or if you think I need to focus on improving areas of my mental health first?"... I know my insurance doesn't ask me for the 'why' behind seeing a professional. For my insurance, I could simply pay the co-pay and see a mental health professional for any reason I deem necessary...
...What do you think?
Good choice. Be honest about it. Just because you consulted with professional advice, shouldn't disqualify you from your license. The action you took from the beginning should have some credibility.Thanks! Given the circumstances, I think going the honest route would be the best anyways, just so I have nothing come back and bite me years down the road. I actually contacted my lawyer this morning after I got off the phone with the ISP and he instructed me to continue on with the statement while he goes over past notices to try and find my doctors, just in case.
I agree. Unfortianately, there are "some" (not all) that will in fact, knowing the circumstances, will deliberately come down hard on you in these times. Everyone goes through these times of loved ones. Many times, it's during these circumstances, some (not all) people can be the coldest and their actions and/ or words can seem abnormally agressive. It's not uncommon for people to seek someone to talk to besides family or friends.If the question says, "Have you ever been treated for psychiatric health care or an emotional or mental illness?" on the form what do you consider treated? Talking to a counselor or psychology to me is not receiving treatment. Everyone gets the blues every once in a while and anyone that has a stable mind would be upset about someone close to them passing away.
Who knows what Big Brother really knows about all of us? But as an outpatient therapist in private practice, I am under no obligation to report my client list to anyone, and I don't. I don't know any colleagues who do either. Mandatory reporting statutes for therapist only have to do with harm. We are obligate to report child abuse. We may breach confidentiality to involve others to help keep a suicidal client safe, and we have a duty to warn persons who are under threat of harm by our clients. I have made many a child abuse report. I have on occasion involved LEO for suicidal emergencies in which they intervened and transported suicidal persons to the emergency room for psychiatric assessment and possible 72-hour hold. I have never reported, "John Doe is seeing me for counseling."
If OP's description is honest and accurate...if he was never committed...if LEOs were never involved with him for a psychiatric emergency...if he was never Court ordered for a mental health evaluation....odds are no one is going to know unless he tells them.
One of the places I work requires fingerprinting background checks on all employees. You see lots of stuff on reports but no reports of "saw a counselor."