BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Stress and anxiety related to the pandemic has weighed in on the mental health of many people who often visit professional counselors and therapists.
It's also weighing in on the counselors and therapists tasked with managing the mental and emotional needs of clients.
"We see our therapists struggling with some of the same issues as all of us struggle with," Elizabeth Woike-Gange, President and CEO at BestSelf Behavioral Health, said. "Child care, isolation, and not being able to take real time off when you're working remotely. It seems there's no real beginning or end to the day. Definitely our therapists are seeing that."
Forbes highlighted the burnout facing health care workers across the country. Many of the same issues happening across the United States include what is happening in Buffalo.
"It's honestly impossible (to accommodate everyone facing mental health struggles)," Lindsay Herndon, Brylin Behavioral Health Associate Vice President of Outpatient Service, said. "We do have a wait list. We prioritize anybody that calls in. All of our services…we try to get it in as soon as possible but we can only hire so quickly and making sure that we can get everybody seen (is difficult)."
While Herndon said there has not been any burnout among their counselors, they remain wary of the stressors associated with new caseloads and give ample options to get the work done that is necessary, including time carved out for paperwork, full lunch breaks, and they're even allowed more time away from the office so as to avoid burnout.
The needs for clients vary widely. Some clients simply need somebody to talk to while others need medications to handle the stress associated with the pandemic.
"It's getting more intense in treatment, in general," Herndon said.
Issues already facing the mental health industry are exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes issues related to wages and staffing.
"The sector has been chronically underfunded and underappreciated in terms of salaries that we've all been able to offer our counseling staff has been under what our other medical professionals are able to earn," Woike-Ganga said. "It's a difficult field to go into. You definitely don't go into it for the money but if people want to stay in the field, they need to be compensated adequately."
That's why Woike-Ganga said the state and federal government need to step in to add more funding for their industry.
"(They could) set a consistent reimbursement rates," Woike-Ganga said. "Certaintly Medicaid expansion has helped parity where insurance companies have to pay similar rates for behavioral health services as they do physical health services and recognize the value that we provide to the system by keeping people safe in their communities and out of the hospitals."
Is there a light at the end of the tunnel? While the COVID-19 vaccine could solve some problems, it may take longer for the issues in their industry to be resolved.
"We try to keep our eyes on the future and support our staff now by engaging in their usual self-care activities, providing different resources through the agency as well and hope in a year or so we'll be back on track," Woike-Ganga said.
"The long-term effects of this for mental health will stick around in a positive and negative way," Herndon said. "I think more people will be willing to get services now because they see how important it is. On the flip side, that does mean that more people will be realizing they need help and that it's okay to need help."
Both Woike-Gange and Herndon said the telehealth capabilities have increased thanks to the pandemic and the need for people to work from home. Herndon also said the pandemic has allowed their counselors to better connect with some clients because they seem "more human".
Mike "Therapists are working from home and have children and they have animals that all randomly jump on your screen," Herndon said. "I think that's something that's needed in mental health. It helps with relatability when you're doing services so people can see 'ok, there's a human helping me out with this and not a robot telling me with these things'. I think that will help in the long run."
