According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, close to 5 million Georgians live in a community that doesn’t have enough mental health professionals and more than 1.4 million Georgians have a mental health condition. That’s more than twice the population of Atlanta.
But there’s a statistic that has therapist Chantel Cohen even more concerned: the lack of diversity among therapists. She says only 4% of therapists in America are Black and that there’s a mental health crisis among underrepresented communities in Atlanta and nationwide.
Chantel says there are some financial barriers for some people of color who are considering a career in the mental health space and that there are flaws in the way people are paid.
“Often times people [with a master’s degree] are paid $16-$25 an hour,” said Cohen. “Oftentimes, people of color, we need to start making money so we can pay back those student loans. So, what ends up happening is, we end up getting the degrees but going on to a different career.”
Cohen had to leave an agency because she couldn’t afford to pay for necessities.
