Texas' shortage of mental health care professionals is getting worse

[RandySF]

In 2016, the warnings about the future of the Texas mental health care workforce were clear.

“More than 80 percent of Texas counties are designated as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas, which are defined as more than 30,000 residents per clinician,” the Texas Statewide Behavioral Health Strategic Plan stated seven years ago. “Many of the most experienced and skilled practitioners are approaching retirement. … Texas higher education institutions have been unable to produce enough graduates to meet the predicted demand.”

But no forecaster predicted a global pandemic that sparked months of lockdowns and restrictions on public life that left both Texas and a nation seeking to counter the resulting anxiety and depression. In a nation where agreement can seem rare, both Republicans and Democrats have come to the same conclusion: Mental health services are in direct need of a makeover and expansion.

“With the ongoing mental health challenges brought on by COVID-19, there could not be a more critical time to strengthen our nation’s mental health resources,” U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in November 2020.



https://www.texastribune.org/2023/02/21/texas-mental-health-workforce-shortage/

[bucolic_frolic]

1. How would they know and does it matter?

[Hekate]

2. I wonder how many have decided to move because of the punitive & fascistic crackdown on...

…well, everything that might drive a person to seek a therapist to sort things out.

Would you want to be the therapist for an under-18 trans child and their parents? Or the therapist for a woman who needs to sort out an abortion she is contemplating or has had? The legal and social ramifications could be profound.

[Freethinker65]

3. Well, I cannot imagine a pre-menopausal female medical professional voluntarily moving to TX.

Any medical professionals with wives or daughters are probably are also less inclined to move to TX.
Perhaps the TX legislature can just license unprofessionals to do the job? Who needs qualifications and education?

[SheltieLover]

4. Why would any educated, thinking person move there, or stay there?