Do You Need a Diploma to Be Taken Seriously?

[shree]

My life purpose is clear: I help adult children of dysfunctional families release shame, reclaim self-worth, and live freely and authentically.

I’ve gone through deep pain, emotional neglect, shame, trauma. Through inner child work, emotional healing, and self-awareness, I went from a miserable, lost person to someone who is mostly joyful,  emotionally literate, sometimes ecstatic, and increasingly aware of his true nature.

But I still ask myself:
Will people trust me without a diploma?

I fear not being taken seriously.
I fear being seen as not good enough without formal education.

But I know what I offer is real.
It comes from life, not from a classroom.

To those walking a similar path:
Did you struggle with something similar?
How does one build trust without a degree?

 

@Emerald @Leo Gura @Exystem  @Michael569 @Thought Art

Tagging a few I know are on a similar path, but I’d appreciate feedback from anyone who is on a path of mastery.

Edited yesterday at 10:15 AM by shree

[shree]

I forgot to mention:

 

I’m 34, a father of two, working full-time. In my free time, I focus on healing, understanding my trauma, and learning how to share my insights to help others heal and grow too.

 

[Artsy]

Yes it's possible, even with a diploma (I'm guessing you mean university degree?) you still need a portfolio - documented evidence of the impact/value you can deliver, Austin Kleon Show your work is a good book of what this can look like in practice. That being said, for your Life Purpose I would reccomend looking into a counselling/psychotherapy degree.

[Michael569]

@shree was just reading this when I saw notification that you tagged me. 

The purpose of diploma isn't just to showcase your credentials but it is to create a level of professionalism and a structure and to help you practice safely a responsibly. It ofcourse depends on the type of client you work with. Some people don't care and some will want to see some level of formality before they sign up for your thing. If you are going to be running a business, then you want to make sure you do that as a professional, not just someone who looks like he is dabbling. 

In general the purpose of accreditation is: 

• to help you frame your scope of practice
• to protect you from liability if a client case goes wrong (e.g. suicide or self harm) 
• to help you get over red tape (accounting, taxes, permissions to practice, governing bodies you need to register with) 
• to teach you about who you can and can't work with
• to help you structure your assessment forms 
• to be able to identify red flags that demand immediate referral or place the client entirely outside of your scope
• to help you stay up to day with the evidence in the field 

But moving away from that, the first question to answer is, "who is your client". And I know you stated that it is an "adult child from dysfunctional family" (btw please don't use this wording on your website ) but I feel like you have to be a bit more specific. 

• what do they do? 
• where are they found? 
• what are they looking for? 
• what are they googling? how will they find you? 

Once you know that, you can make the decision whether to go for diploma or not. If your clients are mostly stage blue people, you will need credential and high level of formality. If your clients are mostly green, you need to pay more attention to the vibe that your messaging is giving. Yellow will want to see a mix of all. 

I know I am not answering your question, I'm trying to prompt you to think deeper because there are many ways to answer the question. 

Personally, I have almost never been asked about my credentials in the line of work I do but it is writen on my website and I have entire section about professional accreditation so that people can have this question answered. 

Edited yesterday at 11:09 AM by Michael569

[Hojo]

Depends on the field if you want to work with other people you will need a diploma. If you can show you have skills that don't rely on other people you wont ie insane math skills /3d 2d animation/ mechanic/ plumbing. They won't let you make mental decisions and give you authority without showing you know how that is reckless. They won't let you start in any social work without diploma guranteed.

Edited 21 hours ago by Hojo

[shree]

@Michael569Thank you,

your response gave me exactly the kind of clarity I needed.

I’ve been refining my niche, and here’s what feels the most true:

Who I help:

I support adult children of emotionally immature/alcoholic and religiously abusive families ,people who grew up feeling invisible, guilted, and shamed into self-erasure. 

Many were raised to believe that love had to be earned through obedience, silence, or martyrdom.

They’re often in their 30s–40s, intelligent and emotionally sensitive, but stuck in cycles of self-abandonment, shame, and toxic loyalty. They’re just starting to awaken to the fact that their burnout, anxiety, or lack of identity is rooted in deep childhood conditioning, even if they most probably don’t use the word “trauma” or "CPTSD."


****

What they’re looking for:

They Google things like:

“Why do I feel guilty saying no?”

“Was my childhood emotionally abusive?”

“Religious guilt healing”

“Why do I feel responsible for everyone?”


They’re not always ready for therapy, some are afraid of being pathologized.
But they’re hungry for truth, emotional safety, and practical insight.
They want realness, not academic distance. They want someone who’s lived it and speaks their language.


****

My Offer:

I’m not YET a therapist.
But I’ve walked the fire, and healed most of it.
I offer trauma-informed support rooted in emotional reparenting, inner child work, and the kind of spiritual clarity that only comes from surviving deep confusion and toxic shame.

Your point about professionalism, boundaries, and legal protection is absolutely valid, and I’m sitting with it as I design what this practice becomes.
But your biggest gift to me was this reminder:

"Don’t just lead from what you survived. Lead from what your client is searching for.”



As always thank you for being generous and sharp at the same time.

[Michael569]

@shree appreciate you taking time to answer and unravel it all a bit further. I think you're on the right path and it is clear that you know what you can offer to people and what they can expect from you. 

13 minutes ago, shree said:

I support adult children of emotionally immature/alcoholic and religiously abusive families ,people who grew up feeling invisible, guilted, and shamed into self-erasure. 

Would this go on your website or is this purely for your own framing? You would need to cushion this a little bit for a website copy. People don't need to be reminded of things they know aren't going well for them. Maybe you could practice wrapping this up nicely for your home page to help the visitor identify with the message through encouragement and comforting rather than restating the negatives. 

But I am not expert on copy writing and it is one of my greatest struggles when it comes to content cration. I found having a personal mentor to be invaluable. 

17 minutes ago, shree said:

They’re often in their 30s–40s,

This is a start but needs to go deeper. Work with AI to help you create ideal client avatar. 

18 minutes ago, shree said:

They Google things like:

“Why do I feel guilty saying no?”

“Was my childhood emotionally abusive?”

“Religious guilt healing”

“Why do I feel responsible for everyone?”

Love this! Good material for blogs perhaps to start ranking yourself on SEO (easier said than done) 

Anyways, this is all best discussed with someone who knows their way around content design, online marketing, brand strategy etc. See if you could find someone to mentor you if you have some extra budget. Perhaps even within the industry you work on. 

All the best with it, I love what you're doing and kuddos to doing it while taking care of kids, jobs, mortgage and being a husband! 

[Michael569]

22 minutes ago, shree said:

"Don’t just lead from what you survived. Lead from what your client is searching for.

oh and yeah, 100% ! 

Think about it this way, you could be the best in what you do but if people don't know who you are, what you do and how to connect with you, the business won't pick up. Again, this is my greatest struggle so I definitely haven't mastered the art of cooking the perfect marketing recipe  

[aurum]

@shree

It sounds like you're dealing with serious trauma. In which case you probably want to get some sort of formal credential.

There's not just liability with something goes wrong. You could also just get in legal trouble for practicing therapy without a license, depending on your local laws. That's applicable even if everything goes right.