Pennsylvania Mental Health Counselors Association

Over 1250 counselors throughout the United States participated in a survey sent out by the American Mental Health Counselors Association as part of this year’s celebration of Mental Health Counseling Month.

The survey, which was designed by Joan Normandy-Dolberg, AMHCA’s Public Relations Chair, was distributed to the state chapter presidents and was emailed to their members. Those who received it were also encouraged to send it on to peers who are in different mental health professions including Clinical Psychologists, Licensed Clinical Social Workers and Certified Substance Abuse Counselors. All states participated with Florida, Washington, Ohio, Alabama, Virginia and Massachusetts having the largest number of responses.

The survey asked thirty-five questions, including gender, age, state and location (urban, suburban or rural), type of employment, salary, retirement plans, and participation in various professional organizations. It also asked questions about clinicians experience with managed care.

Thirty six percent of those who responded are between 51 and 60 years old, and 22 percent have been in practice 25 years or longer. Seventy five percent of those who responded are females, and 59 percent own their own practice. Ninety-one percent work with adults, 83 percent do individual therapy and 63 percent of those responding work with couples.

About 50% of those who responded participate with health insurance or managed care, with about 33% filing their own claims by mail and 33% filing electronically by an office administrator. The long wait on the phone to get authorization for a new client (70% spend between 10 and 30 minutes per client) and the long wait for reimbursement (50% wait between 2 and 4 weeks) represent major concerns and may be why 50% of those responding do not participate with managed care.

Thirty percent of those who responded work between 31 and 40 hours a week, and, despite our extensive training, salaries are not commensurate with education levels. Thirty seven percent earn $50K or more per year, 10% earn over $80,000 while only 3% earn over $100,000 per year. Not surprisingly in these difficult economic times, over 75% are moderately to very concerned about funding retirement, and over 90% are considering to see clients after retiring.

Over 74 % of those who responded had attended or are currently attending CACREP accredited programs, and many belong to several professional organizations including AMHCA and ACA. Fifty-six percent belong to their state associations.

The four most important legislative issues that counselors would like to have AMHCA advocate for are: Medicare coverage of counselors; the ability to practice independently under TRICARE; counselor inclusion in the Department of Transportation's Substance Abuse Professionals Program (SAP); and Mental Health parity.

The survey link will be available through the end of June. To participate and have your voice heard, go to .http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AMHCA2010