Jeez, your state sounds a lot like my state. I'm sorry, I know its tough. When my ins stopped paying for my therapist, I cut my visits way down and the therapist discounted the fees. Have you every heard of the Mankind Project? I don't know much about it other than I have a friend who is active in it and he speaks very highly of it in terms of healing. Here is the website. http://mankindproject.org/

Also have you considered contacting therapists and asking if they do sliding scale? Many do, but don't advertise it. Another idea is to ask if the are willing to barter. You might be able to honey-do type projects for the office. I figure it doesn't hurt to ask. If they say know you can ask if they know of some therapists that do.

Yeah. Things are a bit of a mess in my state. According to a report (by a doctor I don't recall the name of) assessing the mental health system in the US I read recently, the system for handling mental health issues in this country is actually pretty broken across the country as a whole though.


I might consider the sliding scale option if I had more money available for this issue. As it stands my budget for treatment is only around $100 (max) per month unless I can get a full time job that pays better.

Doing the barter thing doesn't seem like it would work out all that well for me since I'm already having to put in as many hours as I'm allowed to at my current job just to earn enough to meet the minimum required income for the health insurance package I have right now. If I can't meet that requirement then that leaves me without any insurance at all, and as I mentioned before I wouldn't be able to replace it with Medicaid either.

I'm going to guess that it's very unlikely any local therapists would be willing to provide the required treatments for so little money. Especially if most of them dislike accepting Medicaid due to not getting paid enough through it (at least that's the reason I've heard for it).

Thanks for the link though. I'll give that a look.

I agree that mental health coverage has been grossly neglected throughout the US.

If you are on social security disability, then you should qualify for medicare after two years (you can apply sooner if you are in need). It shouldn't matter what state you are in because social security disability is a federal program not governed by the state. If you are on military disability, know that it should also mental health coverage.

I'm not on SSDI.

Sounds really frustrating. thehotline.org is a great resource for finding what is available in your area.

Frustrating is an understatement.

The Mankind Project thing doesn't appear to have any groups in my state sadly. However, looking at their website it just looks like another support group.

I've also already tried various sites that help you locate doctors/clinics/etc in your area. Although great at finding such resources in your area these sites haven't been very helpful with narrowing things down places that will provide treatment to those unable to afford it.

Has your county mental health department completely cut services?

I don't think that they've cut mental health services completely here. However, it's still exceedingly difficult to get assistance or treatment unless you have the money (and/or good enough insurance) to pay for it. That's why I'm trying to find out if there are any options/ways to get treatment with such low income.

It's always been my understanding that at least in some states, the county mental health dept would be the way to get low or no cost services. I'm sorry, I wish I had more ideas....

Sadly this is apparently the trend across the whole country. The entire system is pretty messed up and as a result many of those with the worst mental illness cases don't get treatment since they're unable to afford it and many of them end up homeless due to their illnesses.

Here's a link to a research paper on the subject from The Heritage Foundation that I found very informative: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/12/how-to-bring-sanity-to-our-mental-health-system

There must be some way of getting affordable help/therapy in this country that doesn't involve getting yourself involuntarily admitted to long term in-patient treatment at a mental hospital and then living as a homeless person after leaving due to not being able to pay the bill for that.

How is everyone here who is getting treatment/therapy/counseling paying for it? There must be at least some people here that aren't earning enough income to afford it, but have found ways to pay for it or get it for free or at a big enough discount to make it feasible to pay for it.

Is there some kind of nationwide nonprofit organization that helps? Or is there some obscure national directory of licensed therapists/doctors who offer to provide treatment to those who can't afford it for free or next to free?

Ive had Maj issues finding affordable help too. Its not just you. Ive called all the hotlines and because I have insurance they want me to pay a 65 dollar copay per visit for weekly visits. Im still looking. I have found lots of books that have been helpful in the mean time. Ive grown a crap ton already. Yes therapy is important but you can start some of the work on your own. Check out the books in the resource section. They have helped tremednously.
So sorry you are having such a hard time

In the U.S., I've seen the
recently enacted
Affordable Health Care Act
enable people who could
not previously afford to
work with mental health
professionals, get access
to the clinicians they need.

While some details are still
being worked out, I have to
come down on the side of
major kudos for the act, based
on the results I've already seen.

In the U.S., many states have
an "Info Line." In Connecticut,
it's "411." This is a clearing
house for what resources are
available. Or a call to the state's
Department of Public Health
might be usefull. Or call the
nearest hospital's Behavioral
Health Department and ask
if the hospital has any low cost
or no cost clinicians who work
with people in need.

Or call the local chapter of
the National Alliance for
Mental Illness. They may
have suggestions.

It's not easy, but in the U.S.
it's increasingly possible to
connect with the resources,
even mental health resources,
that can help support us.

From what I understand, I think the AHC availability and affordability depends on which state one lives in. In my state the options are extremely limited and premiums are very expensive w/greatly limited benefits. That's because the governor & elected officials in all their collective lack of wisdom and prejudice aimed toward the current administration have decided that they will not participate and so unlike other states that support ACH, we have limited choices, high premiums and limited benefits w/high deductibles - not to mention because they chose not to participate, they have lost MILLIONS of federal dollars. But I bet the gov & his cronies all have great, affordable insurance provided by and off of the tax payers' backs. Sadly my state isn't the only one in this situation.

Ok stepping down from my soapbox, lol. Here is a link to a list of which states support ACH and which are challenging. (Not sure how accurate, but it is interesting.)

http://kff.org/health-reform/state-indicator/state-positions-on-aca-case/

And here is a link to a US map where you can click on your state and see the monthly premiums for bronze & silver. Read the box on the left side as it tells you this is a specific example for a 40 yr old, etc.

http://www.investopedia.com/ut-corp/personal-finance/us-healthcare-map/index.html

For many, ACH is out of reach financially. The ACH premiums are more (and the coverage is less) than what many people were paying thru their employers who quickly dumped their employee health plan coverage to save money. Some, who had their own private insurance plans already either had prices jacked up and benefits dumps or were unceremoniously dumped as fast as they could say ACH. I have a friend who said the cheapest (and basically the only one offered at the time) coverage for her was $600/mo and it had extremely limited benefits. That's just nuts! Either way, in some states currently some people are benefiting and others aren't.

SW, in addition to Ilene's suggestions, I would encourage you to call therapists in your area and ASK if they do sliding scale. Most therapists in my are offer sliding scale rates. Be prepared to show them your income and how much you are paying for basic living expenses. I was lucky, because I was already a client, when my ins decided it wasn't going to pay for my therapy any more (before ACH), my therapist discounted my rates and I dropped from once a week to once or twice a month. I'm grateful that my insurance is once again paying, but NOT because of the actions of my state's gov & legislature!!!