This Mental Health Awareness Month, We Are Better Together

Do you know what the date is?

Seriously. I've lost track more than a few times during quarantine. But not today, because in JUST ONE WEEK it will be my favorite month of the year, and it might be yours, too.

What am I talking about?

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

To celebrate, we are kicking off our inaugural Better Together campaign.

What is Better Together, exactly? I'm so glad you asked.

What will not be news to most of you is that the world is plagued with injustice and our very own mental health industry is no exception.

Just a few examples:

• People of color experience the highest rates of trauma and are discriminated against in nearly every interaction they have, including when they are looking for a mental health provider
• Racial and ethnic minorities have less access to mental health services
• People of color are more likely to experience financial barriers to care
• Depression and anxiety cases among Black Americans have risen since the death of George Floyd and the events occurring in its aftermath
• Despite the need, only one in three Black adults who need mental health care receive it
• Many seekers of color do not pursue care out of worry that their therapist may not be able to understand and help them if they don’t share a cultural background
• The number of Black therapists is extremely small: about 1.8 percent of licensed psychologists, 2.3 percent of all psychiatrists, and 7 percent of licensed social workers
• As need for culturally competent care increases and supply of culturally competent providers is strained, providers of color are under the most pressure to reduce their rates to support seekers of color, resulting in a race-based pay gap in the mental health industry (I don't think I need to provide a citation for this one -- many of you are living and experiencing this right now)

I'll stop there for now, but you can imagine, the list goes on.

At MyWellbeing, one of our core values is that Everyone Deserves a Seat on the Couch. One of the ways that we are living that value is by launching this very campaign.

Through Better Together, we are partnering with leading brands to compensate providers full fee group rates while providing free group support for seekers of color who cannot otherwise afford care.

We are launching this campaign May 1 and will be accepting donations through the non-profit 501c3 arm of our business through May 31, 2021.

Though our initial goal for this campaign was to raise $5,000 to support 500 people, we are pre-launch and already have more than $30,000 committed--which will likely cover more than one year of support.

We are incredibly grateful to our brand sponsors, who we look forward to announcing in the coming weeks.

To learn more and get involved:

• If you are a MyWellbeing member and provider of color and you'd like to lead these (paid!) groups, reach out to [email protected] for more information.
• If you are a provider who is familiar with seekers of color who cannot afford care and would benefit from attending these groups, reach out to [email protected].

I am inspired by you every day and so grateful to grow together in this way.

Thank you for living your values and partnering with us as we live ours.

Everyone deserves a seat on our couch. Let's ensure that is more than just a value statement on paper and bring care to those in most need, together.

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