KENNEBUNK, Maine — Gone are the days when speaking about openly about mental health felt taboo for many people. Ever since the pandemic, more and more Mainers have been opening up about their struggles. They've also been seeking help from professionals like therapists in a way they hadn't before.
Hannah Longley, senior clinical director of community programs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Maine, said even before COVID-19 hit, Maine was recognized nationally as having a clinical deficit of mental health providers.
"What we know is prior to COVID-19, one in four Mainers was seeking treatment for a mental health challenge," Longley said, noting the national average was about one in five people.
Longley said with a decrease in stigma, more people have been trying to go to therapy over the past few years, but there aren't always enough providers available.
“Waitlists are continuing to be maintained by some agencies. There are other agencies that are able to discontinue that," Longley said.
Anush Hansen of Kennebunk is a licensed professional counselor who remembers the days before the pandemic when she was launching her own practice in 2019. She said she was looking for a way to market to local people but was having trouble.
“There weren’t a whole lot of options other than these larger, sort of national—or, in some cases, international—directories," Hansen said, noting those can often be tough for both the potential client and the therapist to navigate.
Hansen said she stumbled on a webinar from someone in Portland, Oregon who had created a local directory there for therapists. She decided she wanted to give it a try in Maine to make it easier for local people to connect with local therapists.
“It takes a lot of courage to reach out to someone new who you don’t know to talk about something that’s really difficult, or address a challenge that’s really hard for you," Hansen said.
Hansen said right now, she has about 50 therapists signed up on the Maine Therapist Directory. She said she's offering a free trial through the end of this month for the year, but eventually, one dollar per therapist subscription will go to a local nonprofit that supports the mental health and well-being of Mainers.
It's free for potential clients to use.
"This is just a small way to turn something that is an expected business expense into a way to give to some of these nonprofits that are trying to reach Mainers on a more community and public health level," Hansen said, noting she expects to donate to her first nonprofit in six to eight months—and believes it will be NAMI Maine.
Brenna O'Sullivan is a therapist based in Portland who launched her own practice this spring. She joined the Maine Therapist Directory after seeing a Facebook post about it.
“It has been really hard for people who are looking for therapy to find a therapist that has openings, that’s in their area, and that fits all the criteria they’re looking for," O'Sullivan said about the need.
She said she's hoping the directory will help to connect her with the right clients.
“Therapeutic rapport—research shows it’s the most important factor in getting the results you’re looking for from therapy," O'Sullivan said.
Hansen said she wants to get feedback from both potential clients and therapists in Maine and will be at the National Association of Social Workers Maine 2023 conference and Maine Mental Health Counselors Association 2023 conference. You can also learn more about the Maine Therapist Directory here.