Promoting Mental Health Access and Awareness to Communities
Mental Health Facts:
Considerations for TN
Mental Illness refers to a wide range of health conditions that affect a person’s mood, behavior, and/or ability to think. No matter how minor or severe the symptoms are it is an illness that needs attention.
*1 of every 5 adults experience a mental health condition
*1 of every 20 adults experience a condition that can be labeled serious
*1 of every 4 Youth (ages 6-17) experiences a mental health illness
Statistically Speaking this leaves 1.4 million Tennesseans or 72,123 Rutherford County citizens potentially affected. Rutherford County Schools alone serve approx. 12,700 students that may be struggling day to day with a mental health condition.
Local Access to Mental Health Help
Access to mental health often has barriers that must be overcome. These barriers can pose a serious hindrance to someone who is already in a vulnerable state. A high percentage of Tennesseans are believed to not have sought mental health therapy due to the cost of sessions. Tennesseans are over 6X more likely to be forced to seek out of network care when the behavioral health benefits are compared to other medical benefits. Over half of our state live in a community that does not have adequate mental health professionals to support the local community health needs creating additional barriers of time and travel for those affected.
Recognizing Barriers for Therapists:
It is equally important to help clients understand the barriers their therapists face in providing them access to mental health.
*Office space is very costly with an average operating cost that can run between $13k-$20k/year for just the office you meet in and a bathroom.
*Required General Professional Liability insurance has seen about an 80% increase over time
*Required Software-Charting Systems have increased almost 60%
*Cost of Court or case Involvement is a true loss to the therapist that often cannot be charged for and requires time and loss of other session income.
*A Therapist’s income is limited to only being able to serve 5 to 7 clients per day
Therapists are not exempt from overhead cost and canceled sessions that not only don’t pay but leave an unexpected void in a schedule that often can’t be filled in time. Your therapist is not just an individual, they are a business that has to be profitable in order to serve the client.
Our Network of Alliances
While Grace in the Boro Inc does not currently employ therapists or offer sessions directly we have aligned a networking of like minded licensed therapists that have a passion to increase the access available to all members of our community. These therapists and private practices have committed themselves to doing everything they can to assist each person in overcoming the barrier’s to mental health assistance.
Our aligned Therapists are not money hungry people that are looking to take advantage of clients. They are small businesses that are strapped by daily operating costs that have to be covered. They just desire fair salaries to take care of their families while they do what they love and are called to do within their field. We believe many clients do not understand that financial barriers are experienced in both the clients’ perspective and the therapists’ so hopefully with gentle education and community support we can work together to create a financial compromise that enables both the client and the therapist to win in the end.
Contact
Please contact us here for further assistance.
Email
admin@graceintheboro.com
Phone
(865)684-3395