Mental health providers face burnout, shortages
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Metro Detroit mental health providers say the stigma around therapy is easing. The harder part now: finding care.
Why it matters: Mental Health Awareness Month arrives as more people are willing to ask for help, but therapists are increasingly strained by burnout, staffing shortages and competition from private companies.
What they're saying: Demand for care remains elevated post-COVID, Oakland Family Services CEO Jaimie Clayton says, but the bigger shift is the complexity of the cases providers are seeing.
- "The people we're seeing have more issues and more severity and acuity to their issues," Clayton said. "Our numbers are not that much higher, but there's a lot more pressure on the system in general."
State of play: Clayton, a licensed professional counselor, said the nonprofit is short-staffed in programs serving children with serious emotional and behavioral needs, in part due to frequent crises and burnout.
- The intrigue: COVID disrupted the pipeline of new therapists because students struggled to complete required internships, she added.
Zoom out: Nonprofits such as Oakland Family Services are increasingly competing with insurers, private practices and virtual therapy companies for workers who may pay more or offer more flexibility.
- Mental health advocates nationally have also raised concerns about insurance reimbursement and the growing role of corporate-backed therapy platforms.
- Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's Mental Health Awareness Month proclamation highlighted the state's efforts to recruit and retain mental health workers amid growing demand for services.
Zoom in: Oakland Family Services' Day One program offers therapy, substance use treatment and psychiatric services for children and adults, including Medicaid patients and people with commercial insurance.
- Wayne County residents can also access services through the Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network and other community providers.
The bottom line: "Treatment is available and treatment works," Clayton said, but providers say Michigan's mental health system remains under growing pressure as demand and patient needs become more complex.