The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy

Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Mental Healthcare Workforce Shortages


Listen Later

Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Mental Healthcare Workforce Shortages

Curt and Katie chat about the looming (and current) mental health workforce shortages. We talk about the exodus of mental health providers, legislation and proposed bills that seek to address these shortages, and what modern therapists can do to advocate for the needed changes. We also talk about inadequate or harmful strategies (like cheering, scholarships, and subway sandwiches) that are often implemented by agencies and legislatures. We provide individual and collective calls to action. 

It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.

In this episode we talk about:

  • Recent data that shows that there will be huge workforce shortages in coming years
  • The difficulty for folks in accessing mental health services in all sectors
  • The reasons that mental health workers are leaving the profession
  • High caseloads, higher acuity
  • Systemic burnout, jaded supervisors
  • The inadequate “support” of mental health workers with subway sandwiches, cheering heroes
  • Legislation that has gone through to support healthcare workers in receiving mental health
  • Legislation that funds hiring more workers
  • Bills addressing scholarships to increase folks going to school for mental health
  • The problem with scholarship bills versus loan forgiveness bills
  • Bills working to decrease wait times for those seeking services
  • Creating and filling in mental health treatment needs with paraprofessionals, peer counselors
  • Navigating funding and worker shortages with new treatment planning
  • The challenge in “steeling our hearts” to make choices in how we work and who we work for
  • Both individual and systemic action that we can take to address these issues
  • A request for the National Guard to come in and staff residential treatment centers
  • The importance of taking action now to get involved in legislative advocacy
  • ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie VernoyBy Curt Widhalm, LMFT and Katie Vernoy, LMFT

    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4
    • 4.4

    4.4

    235 ratings


    More shows like The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy

    View all
    The Trauma Therapist by Guy Crawford Macpherson

    The Trauma Therapist

    528 Listeners

    Therapy Chat by Laura Reagan, LCSW-C

    Therapy Chat

    685 Listeners

    Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson by Rick Hanson, Ph.D., Forrest Hanson

    Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

    2,481 Listeners

    Counselor Toolbox Podcast with DocSnipes by Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes

    Counselor Toolbox Podcast with DocSnipes

    617 Listeners

    Therapist Uncensored Podcast by Sue Marriott LCSW, CGP & Ann Kelley PhD

    Therapist Uncensored Podcast

    1,388 Listeners

    Psychologists Off the Clock by Debbie Sorensen, Jill Stoddard, Yael Schonbrun, Michael Herold & Emily Edlynn

    Psychologists Off the Clock

    322 Listeners

    The Couples Therapist Couch by Shane Birkel

    The Couples Therapist Couch

    267 Listeners

    Attachment Theory in Action by The Knowledge Center

    Attachment Theory in Action

    152 Listeners

    Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast by David Puder, M.D.

    Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast

    1,324 Listeners

    Light Up The Couch by Clearly Clinical

    Light Up The Couch

    321 Listeners

    The One Inside: An Internal Family Systems (IFS) podcast by Tammy Sollenberger

    The One Inside: An Internal Family Systems (IFS) podcast

    269 Listeners

    Notice That by Jen Savage, Melissa Benintendi, and Bridger Falkenstien

    Notice That

    310 Listeners

    The Leading Edge in Emotionally Focused Therapy by theleadingedgeineft

    The Leading Edge in Emotionally Focused Therapy

    214 Listeners

    Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch by iHeartPodcasts

    Dear Therapists with Lori Gottlieb and Guy Winch

    2,337 Listeners

    Trauma Rewired by Jennifer Wallace & Elisabeth Kristof

    Trauma Rewired

    305 Listeners