Former US Marine from Old Harbour dedicates his life helping others combat mental health

Meet Samuel King, who spent much of the first half of his early life in Jamaica growing up in Old Harbour, once a rustic fishing village on the southern coast of the Caribbean island, but is now a much sort after place today due to its booming development.

In an interview with Old Harbour News, King, 40, touched briefly on several topics surrounding mental health. Two trips to war in Iraq in the early 2000s gave him a whole new perspective on the true meaning of finding one’s real purpose in life. To be willing to offer a helping hand is all that matters, he said.

In 2019 King made a very bold and calculated step to quit his full-time job where he has been assisting many persons struggling with mental health issues. He wanted to do more, much more. By the end of that year, Sam King Counseling & Consulting, LLC was born.

“My service in the US military, the experience of helping to care for my great-grandmother, in our home, as a child, and the insufficient, and inefficient, service I received as a veteran, following my years of service, influenced my decision to select a career path that was more directly related to helping others, in the world around me,” said King, who grew up in Marlie Mount, Old Harbour.

As a psychotherapist, King’s line of work is similar to that of a psychologist but for a few minor differences. Unsurprisingly his responses to the questions were grounded in deep psychological teachings coupled with first-hand experience.

“Mental health is everything we do,” he told Old Harbour News in an exclusive interview. “I am not able to fully express how important mental health is through this medium, at this time. However, I will share my belief that behavior, conscious or unconscious, is first originated, then commanded through a thought, or a trigger that leads to a thought.

“Mental health is most important for our daily living. Mental health influences, and governs, from a macro perspective; relating to countries, states, parishes, communities, and towns, and from a micro perspective - groups and individuals - the way we communicate, and interact with ourselves, and those around us.

“Mental health is often viewed in a negative way, as many people on the Earth view it from a stigmatic perspective, as opposed to an important and necessary element of human existence.

“The discussions concerning the importance of mental health, ought to be parallel to the discussions of AIDS, cancer, and heart disease. In most cases, the mind; which I often regard as the most theoretical aspect of the brain, experiences degradation through various forms of stressors, persistent and recurring negative thought processes, irrational beliefs, etc.

“So, in essence, the world appears to be most consumed by the importance being placed on physical health, when the mind, in collaboration with the brain, controls the body. That is all I will suggest, for now, concerning the importance of mental health.”

Time spent in the Marine taught King – who was a youth member at the Seventh Day Adventist Church Old Harbour – many life lessons. The immeasurable experiences gained molded an obdurate belief within him to serve humanity.

“I knew, and planned the goal of serving others in a private practice setting long before I achieved the designation of LCSW. Additionally, the mental health services delivery, with particular reference to inpatient treatment settings, often require snap-shot - which could be considered in many cases, inadequate knowledge, or erroneous - diagnosing based, mostly, and many times solely, on client’s reporting. Client’s reporting may also, often be influenced by a plethora of factors, that could with time, be positively observed, questioned, or reiterated.”
 
Insurance companies

King believes, however, the strong influence of insurance companies in his field of work is having a negative impact in some cases on effective treatment of mental health sufferers who require long-term assessment rather than rushing to medicate someone displaying signs of mental breakdown.

He added: “As this is often the case, more than it is not, insurance companies often dictate the need for, hastily or ill-informed diagnosing. Hasty or ill-informed diagnosing which in many situations can negatively influence patients’ lives; as their negative perspectives, or filters, related to their experiencing of symptoms, based on what they have read about their diagnoses via the internet, or have been told by mental health professionals in the field, often hold them hostage to not only believing these diagnoses, but rather becoming their diagnoses. I have witnessed the negative results - on the belief systems, and lives of clients - of inaccurate, and ill-informed diagnosing of mental health disorders, and the associated prescribing of medications for these diagnoses.”

So intently committed to mental health, the former Marlie Mount Primary and Old Harbour High alum, contends that the title of US President “could not measure up to being a United States Marine” at this moment in his life.

“The mentality of mostly self-less service, dedication, generations and decades of pride and honor forged by exceptional men and women, is that of the United States Marine Corps,” he said. 

His journey into the field of mental health appears not to be by happenstance. He recalled becoming peer counsellor while in ninth grade to college students at GC Foster College. Signs of a future leader were already emerging when he was appointed deputy head boy at Old Harbour High and was among the school’s first batch of sixth formers. But his most memorable time he admitted was being the valedictorian of the Graduating Class of 1996.

He was later accepted to pursue tertiary studies at Mico Teachers’ College but emigrated to the United States where he was “inspired” by a US veteran to join the military.

“This decision was partly influenced by the legacy and respect that it embodied, and the prestigious nature of the uniform I was to wear, and represent daily, during my enlistment,” King reasoned about the day he decided to become a Marine.

After spending nine years and one month to be exact in the US Marine Corps, King enlisted into the United States Army for Officer Candidate School before opting out of the programme.

“Shortly after making that decision, I decided to return to graduate school, for a second time; at Florida International University, to pursue studies in clinical social work, with the eventual goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker,” he said.

Private practice

Many years would later be spent healing the minds of former US Marines and
Ex-military veterans like himself. He wanted to do more but in a unique way but felt hamstrung by ‘the system’. Unable to suppress this deep desire to create his own formula of mental health care, King went about starting his own private practice.

“One of the major beauties of working in a private practice setting is the ability to be most authentically honest with my clients concerning how they are presenting, without the influence of a negative external organizational pressure, at that moment in time. Another is the ability and “mental space” to be most ethically free, as it relates to when to suggest diagnoses, if requested, and is, in my clinical judgment, beneficial to my clients, based on their level of functioning; to most listen, understand, and take action, based on their level of understanding,” he said.

“While I am not opposed to working for private companies again, I have experienced that they often value the cost of the client, at any cost(s) to the client. The measure of the business is first identified, mostly, before factoring all measures of how the client is being served. I live only once in this form, I will choose my actions most carefully, as best as I know how. At the end of my life, I would like to smile more than I frown. By making positive choices for my life, I will more likely influence more smiles than frown.”

Through direct contact, King has been able to serve thousands of people, while indirectly influencing clients positively “through interviews, tweets, podcasts, messages, photos, and videos”.

“My greatest satisfaction in this profession as a positive supporter and helper occurred in November of 2014,” he revealed. “I was employed at a private, medical detoxification, treatment facility. I received an email from an older former male client. The email thanked me for helping him to save his life and retaining his employment while he was in treatment. I then remembered that only intranet existed for use at that organization. The former client was now an employee, of the same treatment facility that helped him to increase the positive choices he was making in his life that ultimately helped him to save his life. That was the moment of greatest satisfaction for me, as a helping mental health professional.”

Mental health in Jamaica
King has made quite a few trips to the tropical island of his birth and keeps himself abreast through traditional and social media with all the various happenings there. He believes more needs to be done to address the rising mental health problems in Jamaica but gave a philosophical response when asked to share his opinion on the issues of mental health on the Caribbean island of 2.7 million inhabitants.

“I will offer the answer in two parts. The first part entails a plea to my fellow born Jamaicans; living locally and internationally, to strive towards greater empathy. By empathy, I simply mean, remembering one of the most known adages around the world: do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Then, the second part of my response is, another plea to adopt Ziggy Marley’s message of “Love is my religion” as a part of their daily mantra. I could write an entire book in an effort to highlight mental health challenges that Jamaica might be experiencing, at this time in its existing. However, I would like to approach the question from a solutions perspective, rather than perpetuating verbal and written onslaughts on my native land. I am in support of positives first, with the possibility of contemplating the rest, as applicable, later on,” King said.

What’s seems certain and is at the forefront of the mind of this clinician that he wants “to share more positive perspectives with the world” in a way that human beings are transformed positively.