In recent years, the number of Americans seeking therapy has surged. The reasons are multifaceted, but chief among them are the COVID-19 pandemic intensifying demand for mental health support and accelerating the adoption of telehealth services.
This significantly widened access.
One study found that telehealth use for mental health care increased by a staggering 3,800% in 2020, and usage has remained high in the years since. But while the shift has theoretically made it easier for people to reach care, it has not appreciably expanded provider capacity. In many areas, individuals face wait times of several months for an initial appointment.
The stigma surrounding therapy is declining, and technology has played a key role in driving that cultural change. Yet the mental health system itself has failed to keep pace. From college campuses to therapist offices, the country is facing a critical shortage of mental health professionals, and the existing workforce is overstretched.
As a therapist, I’ve watched this transformation unfold with both hope and growing concern. More people are prioritizing their mental well-being, and digital tools have lowered many of the traditional barriers to care. But access alone does not solve the crisis.
Building a mental health system capable of serving this new, therapy-ready generation requires modernizing the workforce. That starts with how mental health practitioners are licensed, trained and equipped for the realities of the digital age.
Today, therapists and counselors are typically licensed on a state-by-state basis. This means that even highly trained professionals who are qualified to practice across various settings are often prohibited from seeing clients who live just across a state line.
This fragmented system is increasingly out of step with the realities of modern life. Currently, there is no true national licensure for mental health professionals. While recent efforts to create interstate licensure compacts are important steps in the right direction, progress has been slow and uneven.
The country needs a unified national framework that reflects how therapy is now delivered: often virtually and increasingly on demand. Licensure also needs to be reimagined to address the many barriers that aspiring mental health professionals face. Research shows that licensing and certification processes can be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming.
While these guardrails are important to ensure quality and safety, they should be structured to more specifically evaluate a practitioner’s skills and qualifications, not their ability to pay large fees or navigate a labyrinth of red tape. Some states are starting to explore less costly licensing exam alternatives to help reduce financial and administrative burdens on new providers.
Of course, licensure reform alone won’t solve the supply problem. Addressing the crisis will also require a significant expansion of the pipeline of individuals entering the field. That includes targeted investment in training programs at every level, from associate’s degree pathways to graduate-level clinical education.
Financial supports — such as tuition assistance, loan forgiveness and stipends for required clinical hours — can make the profession more accessible, particularly for those from underrepresented or economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Yet increasing the number of providers is only part of the solution. The existing workforce must also be better prepared to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving mental health landscape.
Today’s clients often arrive with self-diagnoses informed by TikTok videos, social media posts, generative AI and a growing familiarity with therapeutic terminology. This can be empowering, offering individuals a sense of agency and community, but it also carries risks, especially when online content is oversimplified, misleading or rooted in pseudoscience. Alarmingly, a recent investigation by The Guardian found that more than half of the most popular mental health videos on TikTok contained inaccurate information.
Therapists should be trained not only in clinical best practices but also in digital literacy. They will need to be able to navigate the cultural dynamics of online mental health discourse, correct misinformation and meet clients where they are without dismissing the tools that brought them to therapy in the first place.
The profound cultural shift in how people think about mental health and seeking help when issues arise has opened new possibilities for healing and connection. But without systems that evolve to support this momentum, a rare opportunity may be lost. The next generation of clients and the professionals who care for them deserve a mental health system that reflects the world they live in now.