Who's Helping The Helpers?

A search for those with a mission to advocate for mental health professionals' needs

So, I was talking with another friend this week. She shared some of the deep aches she's holding as a new therapist. I watched her hold back tears as I noticed the beautiful office surrounding her. And of course it resonated with me immediately. Depending on the hour, those four walls can feel like anything from a sanctuary to a personal prison.

She asked me an interesting question, "Where are things failing for us? And who's doing something about it? "She already knew I might not have a good answer but she asked it anyway and I was delighted to hear it. It’s a great question. I don't have any answer at all.

I couldn't give her the name of a single organization working on policy or standards for mental health professionals' workplace needs. I couldn't name a single group working to evaluate the actual real-world dollar value of relationship-based or humanistic therapies. Of a group seeking to create pay standards, whether to hold insurers or politicians accountable for the woeful and unrelenting financial chokehold that’s been placed on our industry. I couldn't name a state that's made psychologically safe working conditions for mental health workers a priority...

(If you know of any, please share them with me.)

Almost every advocacy organization out there (again, that I know of) is focused on the rights of consumers/clients/patients. The people in need of mental healthcare services. And that makes total sense and is, of course, completely necessary and should always be a priority. But what’s missing and what I would like to see is a shift in these powerful consumer organizations like NAMI, Mental Health America, The Kennedy Forum, Inseperable, National Institute of Mental Health, etc. expanding their scope of advocacy.

Go to their websites - which of them has a single page dedicated to supporting mental health professionals? Which of them understands the fundamental underlying mechanism holding back patient access and injecting the science of what works for patients into the resources for care delivery? Who is championing the needs of mental health professionals - particularly Master’s-prepared and non-prescribers like Psychologists - who work with these populations?

Photo by Diego San on Unsplash

What these orgs are each fighting for in the way of access, quality treatment, and policy is important but in my view very incomplete when it does not fundamentally include meeting the basic needs of our workforces who are responsible for treating said folks with mental health struggles or illness.

It doesn’t make any sense. It makes me wonder if there are clinician leaders at the decision table in any of these organizations. Clinician is sort of a loose term these days; what I mean is a person who has, at some point in their career, had a full-time job days doing professional psychotherapy or counseling.

Surely, if you have been a practicing therapist or counselor, you know that the workforce is constantly shrinking and hurting badly despite an overwhelming demand in service delivery. {That’s why healthcare isn’t a true market - insurers control the cash flow, so they never increase reimbursements when demand increases for our work - even from their own memberships.} It makes me wonder, what have these orgs done to give back to mental health providers in the communities they represent or serve? Anything?

Once again, I don’t know of a non-profit org who seeks to deliver free or low-cost supervision or mentorship services to clinicians who cannot otherwise afford it. I don’t know of an org or entity who sponsors students in graduate programs for clinical social work, mental health counseling, rehab counseling, school counseling, substance use counseling, or marriage & family therapy tracks. But I can think of several medical schools and institutions across the country who do that for medical residency students. It’s common practice.

I know, I know, we aren’t physicians. We shouldn’t need to hold doctorate degrees or be physicians to access essential resources. So many people remain fused to these ideas of hierarchy in healthcare that we fail to see the forest for the trees. We fail to see where innovation is needed, usable and problem-solving. We fail to clearly see which interventions with our workforces will meet the rising tide of patient needs.

And as soon as something is created to that end - integrated primary care is a great example - it gets widely exploited for profit by third parties and business owners who don’t give a shit about quality patient care or clinicians’ health. We fail, as a system, time and time again, to be responsive and act with integrity where action is needed most in mental healthcare delivery.

And let’s be real - physician burnout and suicide has been on the rise for awhile - there is a can of worms causing deep suffering for them, too.

The fact we are “not prescribers” is a terrible reason to leave our humanistic disciplines for dead. I, personally, have never wanted a doctorate degree. That’s kind of the whole point of having independent licensures at the Master’s level. Certainly, human relationships and holistic healing methodologies are what our society is clamoring toward. When do the resources of our systems, allies, and supporters catch up meaningfully? More importantly, how do we incite broader change ourselves?

I’m tired of [read also: outraged, disgusted by] watching private equity money churn & burn on our collective, forcing more and more out of clinical practice by way of burnout, lack of support and untenable pay practices. I’m tired of seeing folks leave community mental health for similar reasons. Essentially, what I think early career mental health professionals need at the very least are mental health residencies. Post-graduate employment and pay that is stable, supportive and detached from fee-for-service conundrums so they have the energy and personal resources to focus on what really matters - honing their skills and craft in care delivery.

Photo by Jose Losada on Unsplash

I had every intention of dedicating my life to becoming the best professional counselor possible. I understood that the journey would be ongoing, with no clear endpoint. Yet, despite my commitment, I'm still filled with sadness and frustration that I had to walk away. It wasn't a choice I made lightly, but rather a recognition of the toll my body was quietly tallying. Ultimately, I had to put myself first and accept the loss.

Not to be all Tony Robbins about it, but that pain is one of the deepest I’ve ever known and I’ve admittedly become a bit obsessed with figuring out how to lighten or prevent that pain in others who also find themselves on a similar path.

Please, don’t let any of this steal the abundance of love that’s in your heart.

Next week I’ll share the data results from my Behavioral Health Workforce Union survey. If you haven’t taken it yet, access the survey here.

I also wanted to share a great conversation I had recently with Joel Blackstock, LCSW of Taproot Therapy Collective in Birmingham, Alabama. We talked about what it’s like to be an early career therapist, exploitation and burnout, challenges of the system at large, and finding a way to hold hope for the future. Joel’s heart-centered leadership and innovative mindset is a great example of how we can work together to create truly supportive workplaces for mental health professionals.

Video: 

Audio: https://GetTherapyBirmingham.podbean.com/e/wounding-the-healer-with-brittainy-lindsey/

Stay curious,

Brittainy