WATCH: Mental health professionals give tips to find a therapist and get access to care

The Mental Health Project is a Seattle Times initiative focused on covering mental and behavioral health issues. It is funded by Ballmer Group, a national organization focused on economic mobility for children and families. The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over work produced by this team.

It’s hard to find mental health care in Washington.

Throughout the past few months, hundreds of Seattle Times readers have shared how challenging it is trying to find a therapist or a bed at an inpatient treatment facility. Those struggles have been even more challenging for people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and people who have Medicaid, Medicare or no insurance at all.

On Feb. 16, The Seattle Times invited mental health professionals working in the field to share tips and advice for how to navigate the system.

In the hour-long panel discussion, therapist Ash Choi and clinical social worker Gregory Whiting covered working with a primary health provider to get care; accessing treatment with limited insurance options; addressing stigma within your family and community; finding support through group therapy; and other topics.

You can watch the recording of the conversation in the video player and read further coverage of this issue below.

The providers also shared resources with members of the audience. Some of those links are posted below.

General resources

• What are Employee Assistance Programs? “Many employers often offer two to six therapy sessions paid for by the employer. Those therapists will sometimes have opportunities for people to get involved in therapy with them once the EAP sessions offered by the employer have been exhausted. I would recommend that people contact their HR department for information on how their organization’s EAP is structured,” Whiting said.
• Therapeutic Health Services
• Counseling departments in colleges and universities may offer therapy sessions
• University of Washington Medicine offers the public an opportunity to participate in research studies
• Harborview Medical Center offers Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Resources for people of color

• Therapy Fund Foundation
• Black Female Therapists
• Therapy for Black Girls
• Deconstructing the Mental Health System
• Rise 4 Us
• Asian Counseling and Referral Services

Resources for young people

• Youth Eastside Services
• Seattle Children’s Neurodevelopmental program and a therapist who specializes in treating neurodiverse children

Domestic violence resources

• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
• Battered Women’s Justice Project
• The Northwest Network, which supports LGBTQ+ survivors of abuse
• Article: The Cycle of Violence and Power and Control