Closing Texas' mental healthcare gap a matter of 'life and death'

AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- During this Suicide Prevention Month, Texas leaders in psychology research and licensing are stressing the dire gaps in mental healthcare in nearly every corner of the state.

"We all know somebody who's been touched by suicide or substance abuse," Chair of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists John Bielamowicz said. "The ability for somebody to have access to mental health care is often the difference of life and death."

Texas ranks last in access to mental health services, according to a 2023 Forbes study that evaluated states on the availability of mental health services and the barrier to accessing those services. The federal government found that 246 of Texas' 254 counties -- 97% -- are underserved in mental health needs. There are 137 counties with no psychologists at all and 32 counties that have just one.

Yet, the board expressed concerns in Thursday's hearing that additional requirements and bureaucratic barriers could make it harder to license more psychologists. Bielamowicz explained the nation's only psychology licensing exam company is now requiring Texas to adopt an additional test at a "tremendous" cost.

"I don't think we've ever seen such a threat to our ability to license psychologists in this state," he said. "We don't need to be making the barriers higher and harder in this profession."

Just across the street from the board, Dell Medical School is working to recruit the psychologists of the future and get them into underserved communities. Their Integrated Behavioral Health Scholars Program serves to "build a diverse and culturally responsive behavioral health workforce with expertise in delivering integrated behavioral care, particularly to underserved Texans."

"Texas is a proud state, and we should not rank 50th in anything," Chief of Dell Medical School's Division of Psychology Dr. Lloyd Berg said. "It's incumbent on us as a society to speak to our state representatives about understanding, emphasizing, and funding the mental health concerns that we have as a state."

Last year, the legislature invested a historic $11 billion to build 17 more hospitals across Texas, focusing on rural areas. Rural mental health care made Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's list of top priorities. Berg says more should be done next year.

"Texas is already leading the nation in providing more access to child behavioral health and mental health services," he said. "One of the things that the State of Texas and our legislature could do could be to build upon these initiatives to provide this access to a greater segment of our population."

Next week, Bielamowicz will testify on behalf of the board at the Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee, which will consider legislation relating to children's mental health and access to healthcare.

"We understand and see very acutely the shortage that we have in access to care, and we're doing everything we can to address that shortage and to be part of that solution," he said.