The U.S. is running out of therapists. Placer County offers an alternative solution

Originally diagnosed with an eating disorder when she was younger, Cydnie Perkins went through several diagnoses growing up that just “didn’t stick.”

Unable to find the proper medication, her mental health issues started to interfere with her day-to-day life. Perkins said she “only truly started to enter recovery and sobriety” when she was connected with peer-led services.

“I was able to relate to them. It wasn’t a sterile doctor trying to treat me, it was a friend,” Perkins said.

The U.S. will be short 30,000 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers within a few years in the face of a mental health workforce crisis, according to the Association of American Colleges. This shortage of therapists comes at a time when mental health and substance use disorders are on the rise in young adults.

A new mental health program in Placer County, however, might have the solution to this mental health care dilemma — peer life coaching.

Peer coaches are trained mental health providers who have lived similar experiences to their clients, said Perkins, who works as a peer coordinator for Placer County.

Placer County already has several peer-coaching programs in place, such as Advocates for Mentally Ill Housing, Inc., which supports unhoused individuals with severe mental health issues. Perkins, who’s worked as a peer coordinator for this program since last October, found peer coaching to be an effective approach in helping people open up about their mental health issues.

“It’s not like we’re replacing therapy here,” she said. “(But) many people experience anxiety during the process of receiving mental health services.”

‘Revive to Thrive’ life coaching, an alternative to therapy

Young adults aged 18-25 will soon be offered transitional life coaching in a new early preventative coaching program called Revive to Thrive. During these sessions, clients are assigned a life coach who will help them create a structured plan to achieve their life goals.

“It’s not really traditional therapy,” said Amy Ellis, the county director of the Adult System of Care Division. “It’s individual one-on-one interactions with a coach.”

Revive to Thrive is an eight-week program hosted on the Beautiful Minds Wellness campus at 13300 New Airport Road, Suite 102 in Auburn. Individuals interested in joining the program can fill out Revive to Thrive’s interest form online. There are eight to 10 available spots for each group, and individuals who did not register in time for the first group will be wait listed for the next one, according to Gladys Camacho, the coaching grant manager for Beautiful Minds.

Individual one-on-one coaching is offered both virtually or in-person, Camacho said. All the group sessions are offered in-person only, and participants are encouraged to sign up for both.

In light of the shortage of therapists, Revive to Thrive is aimed to be a self-sustaining program. Participating clients will not only receive life coaching but also be trained to become peer coaches themselves.

“There is a significant challenge to meeting the demand in the community for mental health,” said Jason Brown, a spokesperson for Beautiful Minds Wellness, in an email. “We hope that this service and training (increases) the ability/capacity to serve those in need for Placer County. We are also hoping that this program will help reduce the risk factors for individuals who aren’t currently utilizing a mental health professional and reduce/eliminate.”

The Mental Health Services Act, passed by California voters in 2004, expanded behavioral health programs for those at “risk of serious mental health issues.” This grant funded programming for:

• Community Services and Supports

• Prevention and Early Intervention

• Innovation

• Capital Facilities and Technological Needs

• Workforce Education and Training

MHSA is a community planning process, according to Ellis, and the programs developed under this funding address primary community concerns

“We’re trying to target services to the community that would prevent them from ever needing our more traditional services,” Ellis said.

Placer County’s new three-year mental health plan was designed to address mental health service gaps and underserved demographics identified by input from local residents. Access to mental health care for young adults was a prioritized concern among the 700 surveyed residents.

“We tend to think of 16 to about 25 as transitional age youth,” said Twylla Abrahamson, the director of the Children’s System of Care Division. “Our community said this is one of the underserved populations.”

Abrahamson said “transitional age” referred to the time period when teens and young adults transition into adult hood, focusing on college applications and starting new careers.

This program is considered to be the first of its kind funded by MHSA, Ellis said, because “anyone who wants to improve their life” within this age group are free to join. Under MediCal, the county typically provides “more intensive services for people with really high mental health needs.”

“We probably, a few years ago, would’ve maybe not funded something like this,” Ellis said. “But because of that workforce challenge, and because we’re needing to expand options to individuals, we’re going to pilot this to meet that community need.”

Shortage of therapists, rising mental health trends

Several Northern California cities qualify as “high need geographic” areas with health professional shortages, according to Health Resources and Services Administration data. That included three cities within Placer County: Dollar Point, Roseville and Lincoln.

A “high need geographic” area is one with the greatest need for health professionals, including mental health, dentists and primary care physicians.

Chapa-De Indian Health Program, a county-based mental health service for American Indians and low-income individuals, was also listed with a high priority score, according to the HRSA.

There is a current shortage of staff in Placer County’s behavioral health workforce, Ellis said in an email to The Sacramento Bee. The director said there is a 15-20% vacancy rate in Placer County’s behavioral health workforce, with a higher vacancy rate of 20-30% in licensed behavioral health staff.

“This is across all settings including the county and our community based providers. We are experiencing the highest vacancy rates in settings that serve the most vulnerable populations, field based, crisis services, and in office services,” Ellis wrote.

Key findings revealed 21% of American adults are experiencing at least one mental health illness and 15% of adults reported having a substance use disorder in the past year, according to a 2023 report by Mental Health America. Of those who reported a substance use disorder, only 6.5% received treatment.

A 2022 study published in the National Library of Medicine predicted trends of young adults self-medicating with cannabis to “cope with anxiety, depression, and other psychiatric symptoms.” Heavy cannabis usage, especially in adolescents, amplifies both anxiety and depression, according to Dr. Cameron Carter, presidential chair of neuroscience for UC Davis.

“There are two groups of people who should not use cannabis — pregnant women and people with mental health issues,” Carter said.

Revive to Thrive is one of several programs within the county to provide alternative mental health resources and meet community needs “when there is a workforce crisis.”

“We’re using that approach in lots of our programs and adding more peer staff,” Ellis said.