The past 2 years have taught us that life is probably not going to become any easier anytime soon. Having said that, as mental health professionals, we choose to believe that inner peace and contentment can be attained in spite of adversities.
We understand that the economy is unlikely to improve despite the reopening of society. Our CSR program was launched more than a year ago, and it is clear to us that the offer has to go on. We promised to keep our CSR program going for as long as we could.
Seeking help when necessary is commendable, and we are seeing more and more people doing just that over the past 2 years. Regardless of who or where you reached out to, we want you to know that we appreciate your initiatives. Receiving psychological services is not only beneficial to the client, but the act of help-seeking per se will help normalize mental health issues. Thank you for helping us to create a world where mental health services are the norm.
During this period, we have met people that have changed the way we think about mental health care. We thought that with affordable rates, everyone will be able to access psychological services. However, we learned an important lesson about access to mental health services from a conversation we had recently.
An inquirer called in to ask about our services and rates and highlighted that they are in a tight financial situation. As usual, we readily offer our CSR program to them, hoping that it would ease their financial concerns. It was a surprise to us when the enquirer responded: “While I am in a tight situation, I am not exactly desperate. I think I shouldn’t take up your CSR slot in case someone else needs it more than me. Having said that, I don’t think I can afford your usual rates either. Do you happen to have something in between?”
Guess what? We do now.
People reach out for psychological services because they have a need, not because it is cheap. People will appreciate the services if it is appropriately priced. Money, whether too much or too little, should not be a barrier to mental health care 😉
#psycleconsultancy #clinicalpsychology #mentalhealth
