Your Guide to Overcoming Barriers to Therapy Access in Texas
Your mental health encompasses your overall well-being. It influences your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Additionally, it influences how you respond to stress, interact with others, and make informed decisions.
However, many Texans face regular barriers to availing of mental health help. Every year, one in five Texans deal with a mental health issue.
Texas has more than half a million kids that suffer from severe mental trauma. More than two-thirds of individuals with behavioral health conditions do not receive any therapy.
Barriers to Therapy Access
This blog post will explore the key barriers to therapy access in Texas, with a specific focus on affordability and availability.
We will talk about the difficulties people face as a result of these obstacles and the actions to overcome them.
Affordability
Many Texans get deterred from obtaining counseling because it is expensive. If financial resources constrain you, the expense of therapy sessions, especially without insurance coverage, may be prohibitive.
Additionally, some insurance plans have limited mental health coverage or high deductibles, making therapy services unaffordable.
According to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, only 20% of Texans with mental health conditions receive treatment.
Availability
Post the Covid-19 pandemic, conversations around mental health have taken center stage in America. But, even after around two years of the pandemic, not much got done to steer solutions to tackle mental health disorders.
According to Mental Health America, as of 2021, 60% of adults and 75% of children with mental illness did not receive treatment.
Finding nearby mental health centers and professionals can be difficult for you in some places, particularly rural pockets, that can get plagued by a shortage of therapists.
Long waiting lists further worsen this deficit by making it challenging for you to get timely care.
Some Solutions Addressing These Issues
Limited access to therapy has repercussions. Without accessible therapy alternatives, you might not get the support you need to deal with your mental health issues, which could worsen your symptoms and lower your quality of life.
Additionally, because therapy may not be accessible when people most need it, treatment may get delayed and recovery hampered.
Here is a list of 4 measures that can handle the problem:
Insurance Coverage
Advocacy efforts are underway to improve insurance coverage for mental health services, including therapy. This involves pushing for equitable coverage and increased transparency regarding mental health benefits.
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 mandates that health insurance schemes must offer the same level of coverage for mental health services as they do for conventional clinical assistance.
However, many insurance plans still do not comply with this law. Encouraging for greater insurance coverage for mental health services can assist in reducing the cost of therapy for people residing in Texas.
Sliding Scale Fees
Offering sliding scale prices for therapy services is a discourse that is gaining momentum in Texas.
If you are unable to pay the entire cost of therapy, a Texas therapist who accepts sliding payments can help make the treatment affordable for you.
The sliding fees are defined by your income and the capacity to pay. Texas treatment centers frequently provide sliding scale prices, and people can also look for community mental health clinics that give free or inexpensive counseling services.
Teletherapy
Teletherapy, as the name suggests, involves delivering treatment over audio calls, video conferences, and sometimes, emails.
This remote therapy procedure can overcome geographic barriers and facilitate efficient and exhaustive treatment.
Proper counseling can occur even if the patient lives far off, in some remote village, where conventional therapy professionals might not be stationed.
Many therapy providers in Texas offer teletherapy services, and individuals can also search for online therapy platforms that offer virtual therapy sessions.
According to Zencare, an online therapist-searching platform, there are therapists in Texas who charge less than $100 for counseling sessions and are also available for online therapies.
These professionals could be important for seekers who wish for affordable means of therapy or who need remote sessions.
Increasing the Mental Health Workforce
Efforts are being made to boost the number of mental health specialists, especially in remote and underprivileged sections.
This includes boosting mental health education initiatives and offering incentives for therapists to practice in remote places.
Individuals who cannot afford to pay for therapy out of their own pocket can receive low-cost or free mental health services from community mental health centers.
Finally, is Mental Healthcare Really Valuable?
How valuable is mental health care? The worth of mental well-being is significantly more quantified regarding one’s quality of life, interpersonal connections, and career.
It might be invaluable for your future to broaden your view on life, deal with challenging situations, and acquire effective coping mechanisms.
There will always be difficulties in life, and getting mental health care is meant to help you deal with them in a healthy way. Finding your own strength is often more valuable than anything money can buy.
Financial constraints and housing instability can increase mental stress and make treatment more difficult. You might not be too inclined to pay for treatment sessions if you survive paycheck to paycheck.
A word of caution: This may be the time when you could be in serious need of care.