This report presents the findings of a national survey conducted among Grow Therapy’s Provider Partners from February 28, 2023, to March 22, 2023. The survey collected 266 responses from therapists with different specialties, titles, years of experience, and in different states.
The objective of the survey was to gather insights into therapists’ observations and experience on the state of mental health in America in 2023. The report highlights the key findings of the survey, including an analysis of the data and recommendations based on the results.
Key findings from this year’s report:
- The number of people seeking therapy is on the rise, with 83% of therapists saying they have seen an increase in patients seeking therapy for the first time this year.
- Millennials, those aged 27-42, are the most likely to be in therapy currently, with over half (53%) of therapists saying that group makes up the majority of their client base.
- Just over a third (34%) of therapists say that anxiety or stress is the most common reason their patients are seeking help. Other common issues that are bringing people to therapy this year are depression (15%), trauma (9%) and romantic relationship issues (8%).
- With the current state of the world, 99.6% of therapists say that news can have a negative impact on mental health.
- 100% of therapists report that social media consumption can have a negative impact on mental health.
- In continuing to fight the stigma of seeking professional help for mental health issues, about half (47%) of therapists said that open and honest conversations with family and friends/peers, including on social media, is the key to normalizing therapy.
- 24% of therapists agreed that likening mental health to physical health will help to reduce the stigma around seeking care.
- 14% of therapists believe that increased education through PSAs and in schools are an important approach to reducing the stigma associated with receiving care.
- Therapists are most likely to recommend exercise (23%) and time with loved ones (22%) to improve mental health outside of therapy, followed by spending time in nature (17%), meditation or spending time alone (16%) and joining a support group (11%).
- Offering advice to people going to therapy for the first time, therapists said that;
- It’s important to find the right therapist (15%);
- People need to be open minded during to the process (14%);
- It’s important to set goals for what you want to get out of the therapy process (13%);
- People need to understand that therapy takes time (14%)
- 87% of therapists report that tangible outcomes from therapy can take anywhere from 2-10 sessions in most cases.
The report also looked at how therapists feel about running a private practice:
- Therapists say that access to care remains an obstacle, including the ability for providers to accept insurance to help cover out of pocket costs for patients (10%).
- Therapists say that the biggest benefit of running a private practice through a partnership like Grow is reducing time spent on administrative work (24%) and having more time to focus on meaningful work (23%), professional development (14%) and their personal life (18%).
- Therapists say that the biggest opportunities for their practice this year are managing their own schedule to allow for more work-life balance (23%) and growing their practice to reach more patients (22%).
Grow Therapy offers a marketplace for patients to find the right therapist, with the ability to filter via insurance type, state, areas of specialty, gender, virtual or in-person sessions and availability. The therapists available on the marketplace partner with Grow Therapy to receive dedicated admin support like, billing and credentialing plus access to a telehealth platform, custom-built EHR, private peer community and discounted health insurance.
