On Service Part 1

Mental Health has been discussed more than I can ever recall in my lifetime. As a result, there is an increased emphasis on self-care at work and in schools and encouragement to seek therapy services.

This is a positive, especially after coming out of the COVID 19 pandemic. A time when people experienced loss, isolation, and depression at extraordinary levels. In addition, more people are leaving their jobs on medical leave to take time to address mental health. This is all positive and needed.

The problem is that we do not have enough therapists to meet the demand of those who need therapy. A recent New York Times article discussed that there were not enough beds in treatment centers to accommodate teens who were suicidal. Instead of receiving treatment, they spent weeks in the ERs of hospitals. How can we get more people to enter service positions and keep them?

The non-profit I work for has a mental health department that needs therapists to serve the demand of those who need it.

On the flip side, there is a high turnover rate. I have seen therapists come to work at my school site and then depart soon after for various reasons. In this series I would like to explore some of the tension in the profession and why we have a shortage, and perhaps at least begin to acknowledge it. My fear is that we are making suggestions about mental health treatment and care, assuming that the cupboard is full of those who are eager, trained, and strong enough to deliver it. The reality is complicated. I would like to explore a few of them. The first I would like to explore is

the unrealistic expectation of personal fulfillment from public service.

Public service is a rewarding job, but it is not easy. Individuals who seek mental health treatment are in a crisis, their stories are difficult to hear, and at times the behavior they exhibit is troubling and disturbing.

The first point is this. Do not expect to be welcomed as a hero or a savior when you go into public service. Yes, there are times when people will appreciate you, but they often do not. Second, do not expect whatever you read in your textbooks or heard in a lecture to work every time.

Expect to fail; expect to be unappreciated. However, please do not use these occurrences to say this work is not for me. To be in a service career, you need to know that showing up and being present for a person in crisis is enough. It takes time to build trust and establish that you are a safe person.

We need more people in public service; We need more therapists, educators, and social workers.

The career is both rewarding and, at the same time, frustrating, but what in life is not. We will never eliminate the trials and the dark circumstances that erode and tax our mental health, but we can decide to support those who want to serve in these professions.