Vanessa Jones, MS, LMHC, Associate Director, and Stephen Jarrell, Executive Director, outside Headwaters Counseling facility on Calhoun Street, Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Headwaters Counseling serves the Allen County area, providing personal and professional counseling services in a welcoming and non-judgmental environment. Adult, teens, children, and families come to Headwaters for a wide variety of reasons ranging from very serious mental health issues to simple, but challenging life-changing situations with the hope of improving the quality of their lives.
Headwaters has been a stabilizing, nurturing force for our community for more than 70 years, in large part to the dedicated and committed staff and long-time Executive Director, Stephen Jarrell. Stephen has exceptionally high standards of personal and professional performance and expects the same of his staff. Headwaters Counseling is not the most widely known agency in Northeast Indiana, but many acknowledge Headwaters for its dedication, advancing emerging practices, and honesty in evaluating the quality of their work with clients. Headwaters solicits feedback from their clients to help improve services and they maintain a humble attitude and extraordinary commitment to helping others.
Recently Stephen Jarrell, Vanessa Jones, Associate Director, and Diana McGraw, MBA, Bookkeeper, shared thoughts and perceptions of working within the behavioral and mental health industry and their experience as a PHP insured client.
A rise in demand
Since 2020, the number of Americans living with mental health challenges increased by 1.5 million. Even before the pandemic, this number was over 45 million nationwide. According to the CDC, between August 2020 and February 2021, the percentage of adults with recent symptoms of an anxiety or a depressive disorder increased from 36.4% to 41.5%. The percentage of those reporting an unmet mental healthcare need increased from 9.2% to 11.7%.
The 2021 State of Mental Health in America report confirms that mental health in the U.S. continues to worsen – and Headwaters has seen this firsthand with a rise in services across the board. Since the pandemic, the number of people looking for help with anxiety and depression has skyrocketed. Headwaters has seen a 43% increase in requests for services and is treating many more cases of anxiety and depressive disorders.
A lack of trained professionals
Along with most of the country, Headwaters has also been faced with a shortage of available, trained therapists. About 37% of the U.S. population, or 122 million Americans, were living in areas experiencing mental health professional shortages as of March 31. According to the USAFacts report, 6,398 mental health providers are needed nationally to fill those gaps. Two-thirds of these shortages are in rural or partially rural parts of the country, the report says.
According to Stephen, “There’s always been more demand for services than there are mental health providers to provide them. The pandemic has really laid bare that discrepancy.”
Online therapy platforms have seen a rise in demand during the pandemic, as well. Headwaters Counseling quickly adapted to online teletherapy during the pandemic and this shift in providing service has allowed them to maintain contact with clients and offer services conveniently while socially distancing.
An increase in uninsured adults with mental illness
Nationally, 10.8% of adults are uninsured, totaling 5.1 million adults. (This figure differs dramatically across states – Indiana’s uninsured adult population with mental illness is 11.4% and the State ranks 34.)
Headwaters Counseling offers services on a sliding fee scale, and is one of the few social service agencies in the area with this type of fee schedule. The population that Headwaters deals with is largely in need of subsidized services, including justice-involved populations.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has improved access to mental healthcare since it was adopted in 2010, but gaps require further attention. While the ACA mandated mental health coverage for individual and small-group plans, large-group plans are still not subject to that requirement and coverage parity enforcement varies by state.
All ACA health insurance plans must cover mental health and substance abuse services as essential health benefits which means all plans must cover:
- Behavioral health treatment, such as psychotherapy and counseling
- Mental and behavioral health inpatient services
- Substance use disorder (commonly known as substance abuse) treatment
Also, these plans can’t deny coverage or charge more because of a pre-existing condition, including mental health and substance use disorder conditions.
Coverage for treatment of all pre-existing conditions begins the day health insurance coverage starts. And according to the ACA, plans can’t put yearly or lifetime dollar limits on coverage of any essential health benefit, including mental health and substance use disorder services.
Many insured members of any health plan are unaware of their covered benefits. It’s good practice to check with your employer to see what your insurance plan covers. Likewise, take advantage of mental health options offered—mental health issues can affect work performance, absenteeism, and can exacerbate physical symptoms.
Perspectives are changing
Even though great strides have been made in the past decade to improve the availability and understanding of mental illness and reduce its stigma, many individuals and their families still feel discomfort talking about it openly. COVID-19 has put a spotlight on depression and anxiety, helping to ignite nationwide conversation on the topic.
Stephen and Vanessa have seen a noticeable change in the continued and ongoing acceptance of mental health treatments and services, especially during the pandemic.
Diane McGraw, Headwaters Bookkeeper has been with Headwaters since March 2021, and already feels comfortable at the agency and administering employee benefits.
Vanessa says, “Almost everyone has experienced some kind of or some level of mental health challenges. It's nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. When our clients open up and tell us their stories and experiences, we see a flood of relief on their faces and they realize we’re here to listen and that they aren't alone.”
PHP Experience
Diana McGraw, MBA, Headwaters Bookkeeper, is a relatively new employee, having joined the agency in March of 2021. Diana served a larger municipal organization prior to Headwaters Counseling, and this is her first experience working with PHP employee benefits and PHP’s service teams.
In the short time she’s worked with the PHP team, Diana is very pleased with the customer service she’s received and the information she has been provided by PHP Account Managers. As a PHP member, Diana is particularly happy to receive her EOB (Explanation of Benefits) statements herself and says this routine accounting helps her, “stay on point” with her personal healthcare spending and keep track of expenses toward a high-deductible health plan.
Diana also worked as a receptionist and bookkeeper for a local urgent care center for more than 20 years and has seen many patients struggle with lack of insurance, a lack of understanding of insurance, and lack of proper use of insurance. This perspective makes her a better consumer as well as a trusted resource at Headwaters Counseling for employees and the company. She is personally grateful for her PHP coverage and with her experience as Headwater’s Employee Benefits Manager.
Redefining “health”
Headwaters continues to offer consistent, confidential, and reliable counseling services to children, adults, and families. As needs continue to rise and therapy becomes more mainstream, Stephen has a hope to redefine, “mental health.”
Stephen says, “Treatment, whether it involves medication, talk therapy, or time dedicated to self-care, should be encouraged any time an issue is causing problems in your life or relationships; ongoing "maintenance" is often part of the treatment process. It's certainly not a sign of weakness or personal failure. I'd love to see us move from categorizing things as "mental health" or "physical health" and just calling it all "health.”
Headwaters Counseling has been a PHP client for more than eight years. PHP is honored to partner with Headwaters to offer employee benefits to this team of professionals who bring so much good to our region.
About Headwaters Counseling:
Headwaters Counseling has served the Northeast Indiana community since 1874, providing counseling services since 1947. Qualified and experienced staff are licensed and receive regular, rigorous training to ensure best practice standards and quality client care. Additionally, Headwaters programs are nationally and internationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), and is certified by the Indiana Department of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA).
You can reach Headwaters Counseling at:
- Phone: 260-744-4326
- Website: headwaterscounseling.org
