Mental Health Providers in United States

United States

Mental health providers offer essential care to adults and children with mental or behavioral disorders through assessments, diagnoses, treatments, medications and therapeutic interventions. The mental health workforce includes a broad array of professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers, counselors, marriage and family therapists, professionals treating alcohol and other drug abuse and advanced practice nurses specializing in mental health care. 

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, more than 1 in 5 Americans experienced a mental illness (not including substance abuse disorders) in 2022. However, only 50.6% of adults with mental illness and 66.7% of those with severe mental illness reported receiving treatment in the past year. 

An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that only 26.8% of mental health care needs were met in 2024, and more than 122 million Americans were living in areas with a shortage of mental health care professionals.

Populations with limited access to mental health care include:

• Individuals living in rural areas.
• Individuals living in low-income areas.
• Children compared with adults.

Strategies to cope with shortages and bolster the number of mental health professionals include:

• Increasing the use of telemedicine.
• Using workforce development programs to provide mental health training to advanced practice nurses and primary care physicians.
• Providing adequate reimbursement for psychiatric services.
• Encouraging current medical students to become psychiatrists.
• Offering incentives to providers to practice in areas with a shortage of health professionals, like the National Health Service Corps’ Rural Community Loan Repayment Program.
• Integrating mental health into primary care settings, especially for younger populations. 
• Delivering mental health services in school or pediatric settings, which has been found to increase use of services by expanding access to and reducing stigma associated with mental health treatment among youth.

Healthy People 2030 has multiple objectives related to mental health, including: 

• Increasing the proportion of adults with depression who get treatment.
• Increasing the proportion of adults with serious mental illness who get treatment.
• Increasing the proportion of primary care visits where adolescents and adults are screened for depression.

Butryn, Tracy, Leah Bryant, Christine Marchionni, and Farhad Sholevar. “The Shortage of Psychiatrists and Other Mental Health Providers: Causes, Current State, and Potential Solutions.” International Journal of Academic Medicine 3, no. 1 (2017): 5–9. https://journals.lww.com/ijam/Fulltext/2017/03010/The_shortage_of_psychiatrists_and_other_mental.2.aspx.

Cummings, Janet R., Lindsay Allen, Julie Clennon, Xu Ji, and Benjamin G. Druss. “Geographic Access to Specialty Mental Health Care Across High- and Low-Income US Communities.” JAMA Psychiatry 74, no. 5 (May 1, 2017): 476. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.0303.

Kolko, David J., John Campo, Amy M. Kilbourne, Jonathan Hart, Dara Sakolsky, and Stephen Wisniewski. “Collaborative Care Outcomes for Pediatric Behavioral Health Problems: A Cluster Randomized Trial.” Pediatrics 133, no. 4 (April 1, 2014): e981–92. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2013-2516.

McBain, Ryan K., Megan S. Schuler, Nabeel Qureshi, Samantha Matthews, Aaron Kofner, Joshua Breslau, and Jonathan H. Cantor. “Expansion of Telehealth Availability for Mental Health Care After State-Level Policy Changes From 2019 to 2022.” JAMA Network Open 6, no. 6 (June 13, 2023): e2318045. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.18045.

Modi, Hemangi, and Kendal Orgera. “Barriers to Mental Health Care.” Issue Brief. AAMC Research and Action Institute, October 10, 2022. https://www.aamcresearchinstitute.org/our-work/issue-brief/exploring-barriers-mental-health-care-us.

National Council for Mental Wellbeing. “The Psychiatric Shortage: Causes and Solutions.” Medical Director Institute, March 1, 2018. https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Revised-Final-Access-Paper.pdf.

So, Marvin, Russell F. McCord, and Jennifer W. Kaminski. “Policy Levers to Promote Access to and Utilization of Children’s Mental Health Services: A Systematic Review.” Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research 46, no. 3 (May 2019): 334–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-018-00916-9.