🎓 “Not Qualified”? Let Me Tell You What That Really Means.

By: Ken Stoddart

I’ve heard the whispers. The raised eyebrows. The “is he even qualified?” conversations held behind closed doors.

And I get it.

In a world obsessed with credentials, certifications, and clinical résumés, some may look at my journey and think I’m missing something. But the truth is—what I have can’t be taught in a textbook or replicated in a seminar.

I’ve lived it.

I know the feel of rock bottom. I know what it’s like to disappoint the people who love you, to wake up ashamed, to pretend everything’s fine when it’s anything but. I’ve wrestled addiction in silence. Buried grief under performance. Lost myself trying to hold it all together.

And I found my way back.

That journey—brutal, unfiltered, sacred—is what qualifies me. It taught me how to listen without judgment. How to walk with others through darkness. How to bring dignity to recovery and compassion to the brokenhearted.

I am pursuing my Master’s in Addiction Counseling not to prove my worth, but to deepen the impact of what I've already lived. And every course, every lecture, every paper I write builds on the foundation of truth I’ve earned the hard way.

So to those who doubt: I respect your concern. But I invite you to look deeper. Because some of the most powerful healers are the ones who’ve walked barefoot through the fire—and come out carrying water for those still burning.