Discrimination, harmful stereotypes and stigma in the community, family, schools and the workplace prevent healthy relationships, social interactions and the inclusive environments needed for the well-being of all members of society.

You know what’d go a really long way towards removing the stigma?

Covering all mental health services under everyone’s medical insurance.

The insurance companies are absolutely RIDICULOUS with regards to how much power they have to outright refuse to cover things.

Their ability to perform “clawbacks” (yep, that’s the term they use publicly) and just say “I know we paid you therapists for this thing you did, but we’re retroactively reversing our decision. Pay us back what we paid you RIGHT NOW.” should not be allowed except under extreme circumstances and with a high burden of proof.

It’s so bad that it’s becoming outright difficult to FIND any therapists who aren’t leaving the field. If it’s not the insurance companies, it’s the workload itself and the lack of available therapists for THEMSELVES in order to perform enough self-care. (Yes, therapists need therapy too, the same way the people who have to view CSAM and other awful content at facebook do. It’s an exceedingly hard job, mentally.)

The stigma is systemic, endemic, and multiplicative as insurance companies get greedier and our therapist shortage is far worse than our doctor or nurse shortage.

The first step in removing the stigma is treating the action of OBTAINING therapy as completely commonplace and that absolutely involves removing the hurdles that are preventing people from getting the help they need.