Over the past few years, we have been inspired by the impact and efforts of mental health professionals across the nation. Much of the impact and efforts of mental health professionals goes unnoticed. Most providers don’t get to see firsthand how their services impact individuals, families, and communities long term.
We’ve created the Thank Your Therapist Initiative to recognize the impact of mental health providers and bring the reality of their work to light. Mental Health professionals deserve to be recognized and given credit for the impact they are making.
What is the Thank Your Therapist?
An initiative to recognize mental health professionals for their contribution and efforts to impact individuals, families, and communities for good.
We do this by:
Promoting recognition and appreciation for our mental health professionals
Sharing stories of impact from the result of mental health professionals.
Recognizing specific mental health professionals making an impact in their field.
Why did we create Thank Your Therapist?
There are many reasons why we felt that it was necessary and important to create this initiative and here are a few.
Therapists experience high levels of burnout.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC reported that nearly ⅓ of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Therapists are struggling to meet the demand and have never-ending waitlists of patients waiting to be seen. Therapists are good people that genuinely want to help others, which means there are countless stories of those working overtime to try and help just one more person. However, that can lead to high levels of burnout.
In a Forbes article written by Jessica Gold she reports, “Dr. Lisa Hayden, a Clinical Psychologist in Southern California, says that her caseload has been larger than it has ever been in 20 years. In order to accommodate more people, she was skipping all of her breaks and even trying to make her sessions shorter, like 45 minutes or 30 minutes, instead of 50 minutes. She notes, ‘[I] absolutely tried everything but telehealth is different than in person and I found myself mentally and physically exhausted at the end of each day. By December, I really need some time for my own family, as they were really showing the effects of long term stress.’”
2. Therapists feel underappreciated.
Megan Young, a Therapist in Wisconsin when discussing therapist burnout said, “It’s amazing how much a moment of appreciation reduces burnout - reminds you why you put yourself through this and why it’s worth it even on the worst days.”
3. There is a stigma around therapy.
There is still a stigma around going to therapy. Therapy can be a great tool to help you develop coping strategies to help when times get rough. Just as an individual goes to a gym to exercise their body, therapy can be exercise for your mind. Sadly, many don’t see therapy as useful. Around 60% of adults with a mental health illness don’t receive the care they need. In a survey of 90,000 individuals stigma was identified as one of the top reasons why people don’t receive care.
4. There is no tangible way of seeing someone’s progress - only experiences and stories. We want to share those stories.
The impact of mental health services is difficult to quantify and track. Progress in treatment is abstract and non-tangible. Therefore, it is often difficult for mental health providers to see the impact they are making. We hope to change that by bringing some stories to light and finding ways to measure the impact of mental health services.
5. Therapists are busier now than ever.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken all humankind in ways that we never imagined. As the wave of the COVID-19 pandemic slows - I am afraid that a new pandemic is upon us. A Mental Health pandemic. During August 2020–February 2021, the CDC reported the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of anxiety or a depressive disorder increased from 36.4% to 41.5%.
Mental Health professionals are busier now more than ever trying to meet the ever-increasing demand for mental health services. Most are overworking themselves in efforts to help just one more person.
6. We want individuals to recognize and understand the impact mental health providers have. Therefore, decreasing stigma and increasing appreciation and recognition.
The world is finally waking up to realize that mental health is important, mental health should be prioritized, and we see the stigma around mental health and mental illness getting better and better. However, individuals don’t recognize whose shoulders the problems with mental health in the world lie, on the shoulders of mental health professionals. This includes therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, etc. They carry the burden of actually solving this problem and helping individuals improve their mental well-being to find satisfaction in the world.
The other morning, I had a chat with my own therapist. I asked her how many active clients she currently has. Her response was, “Great question, I’ve lost track… easily 100 or more.” My therapist is good at what she does. I’ve referred probably 6 of my friends and family members to her. She has helped me in ways that I could never thank her enough. She has helped me grow in areas of my life I never thought possible. I would not be able to achieve my current state of mental wellness without her.
The work and impact of therapists often go unnoticed. They are the most underappreciated health professionals - and we hope to change that. We hope to make therapists realize the impact of the work they do. It can be difficult to recognize.
How you can help with Thank Your Therapist
Share your story
Write a thank you note, text, email, etc to your therapist
Nominate your therapist
Share the initiative on social media.