Therapy can sometimes feel like something accessible only to a privileged few. I understand the frustration. When I was searching online for a new therapist last year, I scrolled through pages of providers who were not taking new patients, or didn't accept my insurance. But if I could pay out of pocket, suddenly mental health care looked more accessible.
In a poll of mental health and substance abuse workers conducted earlier this year by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 90% of workers surveyed expressed concern that new patients won’t be able to access care. Also in that survey, 58% of providers who work directly with clients said their waitlist for new clients is longer now than it’s ever been before.
If your finances are tight – say if you’re on Medicaid, or you selected an insurance plan with a narrower network of doctors to save on premiums – you may find it’s harder to make an appointment with a new therapist compared to other healthcare providers.
With all that said, Theresa Nguyen, chief research officer at Mental Health America, says it’s important to consider your personal fit with a therapist, as well as the cost. “It's such an intimate experience. It's unlike finding any other doctor,” she says. Here are some guidelines to finding a therapist who can help you – taking both your mental health needs and your budget into account.
Step 1: Figure out what you need help with There are lots of reasons we consider seeing a therapist. Maybe you feel depressed, or unlike yourself. Maybe a close friend or family member suggests you “see someone.” Nguyen recommends getting specific about what you’d like to get out of the experience right off the bat, so you can seek out a therapist who matches your goals.
“If I am resolving family issues … I want to feel warmth and safety with this person. If I am going to therapy to manage a life change that might trigger a depressive episode, I'm going to find somebody who understands what's related to the change that I'm negotiating,” Nguyen says.
It’s also okay to go into therapy without really knowing precisely what you want out of it, says APA psychologist and spokesperson Lynn Bufka. “Sometimes people just feel bad or life's not going how you want it to go,” Bufka says, “and it's hard to be more specific.” Therapy could be a step forward.
Read the rest of the guide on NPR.org, including free and low-cost therapy options you might not know about, and how to interview a potential therapist.
Good news for people who want to lose weight but hate math! Calorie counting may not be your only option for cutting back your food intake. Researchers are getting good results with time-restricted eating – a type of intermittent fasting when you limit eating to a specific window of time, typically 6 to 8 hours a day. As with all weight-loss programs, a key measure of success is whether people on them can maintain a lower weight rather than gaining the pounds back over time. A new study sorted participants into three groups: time-restrictors, calorie counters, and a control group who didn’t change their eating habits – and tracked their weight over the course of a year. The researchers found that people who practiced time-restricted eating cut their daily intake by about 400 calories a day, even though they weren’t counting. Learn more.
There are certain skills we’re expected to learn as young people in this country, like driving, riding a bike, or swimming – that for one reason or another some of us never picked up. Swim safety advocate and Olympian Cullen Jones says it’s never too late to learn. "What is important – shame or nearly drowning? I'll overcome shame any day of the week," says Jones. According to the CDC, 4,000 people die from unintentional drowning every year in the United States.
The American Red Cross says there are five basic skills that you should know to be able to save your life in the water. Life Kit host and reluctant swimmer Marielle Segarra interviewed Jones about how to get in the water and get capable. Read the guidance and Jones’ tips for getting yourself up to snuff, or listen to the full interview.
Let’s be honest here. Imagine you were in terrible pain and went to the ER, to find out you needed emergency surgery. You get the surgery, and go home, expecting a fat bill – but you never receive one. What would you do? Me, I would thank the small gods of human error and move on with my life.
Twenty-three year-old Bethany Birch had bigger problems than a missing hospital bill. After an emergency gallbladder surgery, she lost her housing, and spent months crashing with family, with no permanent address. She was unemployed and uninsured at the time. Bethany says she never received a bill. But two years later she was served with a lawsuit, demanding she pay the hospital over $11,000 for the surgery and another visit, plus interest.
Most hospitals have financial assistance programs for people like Bethany, and the law requires hospitals to inform patients who may qualify about such programs before the hospital can sue. But advocates say this doesn’t account for situations like Bethany’s where a patient may not have a permanent address or consistent phone service. NPR and KFF Health News investigate in the latest installment of our Bill of the Month series.
Outside/In is a podcast from New Hampshire Public Radio about the outside world and how we use it. In this episode, Outside/In takes a close look at our clothing choices: do synthetic fabrics – as in a shirt we might wear to wick away sweat on a hike – pose risks to our health? How does the carbon footprint of synthetics like nylon and spandex compare with natural fibers like wool and cotton? Are some brands better than others, and how can we change the way we get and maintain our clothes for a more sustainable future?
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