Promoting Social Justice in the Mental Health Profession

In my last blog post, I wrote about counselors promoting social justice for their clients. It is about time that we start evaluating how we are paid for our services in agencies and in private practices.  Below is a petition that I wrote up for a fellow social worker to bring to her local NASWMA chapter to discuss with their executive director.  If you belong to a professional organization, please bring the below petition to them for consideration as a top priority.

Petition

Mental Health Professionals that include mental health counselors and social workers deserve higher reimbursements from insurance companies and higher salaries from our employers. It is noted that the current infrastructure system to pay clinicians with graduate degrees and with licenses is just not sustainable to live an affordable quality of life.
“75% of all mental health services in this country are provided by social workers and licensed mental health counselors. With the new health care regulations, it will be more important than ever to compensate those providers commensurate with their training and education to keep them in the profession where demand will continue to grow.”  NY Times Article

Furthermore, we want to engage our legislators and prospective professional organizations to listen to our concerns to change the way we are paid for our services.
We therefore ask the NASW and other professional organizations to consider this petition a top priority in advocating for higher reimbursements and salaries for mental health professionals.

Here is a quote from the disability leaders on social justice: “Nothing About Us Without Us.”

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