San Joaquin Valley has a therapist shortage. Here’s how a university hopes to change that
Stockton’s University of the Pacific has launched a new master’s program to help address the region’s ongoing shortage of mental health professionals.
In the fall of 2024, the private university Benerd College, specializing in education programs and degrees, will accept students into its new Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology major focused on marriage and family counseling. About 15 to 20 students are expected to make up the inaugural class.
Mental health professionals remain in short supply across the state, a problem that has only gotten worse since the pandemic spurred an increase in demand for behavioral health services.
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San Joaquin County, where Pacific is located, has the state’s lowest ratio of licensed psychiatrists and psychologists, according to a California Health Care Foundation report. The region has six psychiatrists and 16 psychologists per 100,000 people, compared with the state average of 12 and 44, respectively.
“We’ve seen an increased demand for mental health needs and increased interest in people entering the field. So it seemed like a good time to start,” said Pacific associate professor Justin Low, who is leading the new master’s program.
Programs will help bring mental health services to the Valley
The two-year degree will focus on marriage and family counseling in hopes of producing more licensed therapists to provide mental health services to individuals, couples, families, and youth in the Valley.
The 60-unit program is open to people with a bachelor's degree interested in becoming a therapist. A specific undergraduate degree in psychology is not required. Tuition is about $34,000 a year, and the deadline to register for fall semester is June 1. After graduating, students must complete 3,000 hours of supervised experience to be fully licensed.
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California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock, has a similar Master of Arts in Psychology program, requiring 3,000 hours of post-graduate experience to be licensed. The University of California, Merced, has a Psychological Sciences M.A. degree available only as part of its larger Ph.D. program.
Pacific adjunct faculty member Andra Zastrow, who has worked in marriage and family counseling in Stockton for the past 20 years, said in a release that she hopes the new program will help bolster the struggling mental health system in the region.
“This is a very important step for getting access to care because we have such a lack of resources in Stockton,” she said. “Getting an appointment can take up to a month. Beyond that, nobody is taking insurance. Many people must pay out of pocket.”
Graduates will be in demand across Valley
Graduates through Pacific’s existing mental-health professional-related fields (including its licensed clinical professional counselor major and psychology doctorate) are in high demand. Starting salaries for licensed therapists begin at around $90,000, Low said.
“I regularly have schools and other institutions and placement centers that contact me asking for graduates from the program,” Low said. “The demand is there.”
University officials said the new major is part of Benerd College’s growth into more social education.
“Leadership, education, and behavioral and mental health are three areas of focus within our degree programs,” said Benerd College Dean Patricia Campbell in a statement about the new major. “We are really expanding.”
CHCF, whose report was referenced in this story, is a funder of CVJC’s Health Equity Lab.
Marijke Rowland is the senior health equity reporter for the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative, a nonprofit newsroom based in Merced, in collaboration with the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF).
This article originally appeared on The Record: University of the Pacific aims to help Valley's mental health shortage
