Insight Timer launches free therapist hub to support mental health professionals and relieve burnout
As the mental health crisis in the United States worsens, mental health professionals are increasingly struggling due to labor shortages. More than half of therapists reported experiencing burnout. Despite high demand for mental health services, many independent providers are struggling to grow their businesses.
That's why Insight Timer—a mental health company that provides resources on meditation, sleep, wellness, and other areas—launched a new platform this month called Therapist Hub. It is designed to provide mental health professionals with free tools to help them treat and find new patients. This includes therapists, psychologists, social workers and counselors.
The Therapist Center offers 300,000 free mental health resources, such as audio exercises and worksheets, in 50 languages that therapists can share with clients during therapy. It also allows therapists to advertise themselves in Insight Timer's Therapist Directory, which is available to the millions of patients who use Insight Timer.
Additionally, mental health professionals have access to resources to help them combat compassion fatigue, imposter syndrome, and work-life balance.
Christopher Plowman, CEO of Insight Timer, said the Therapist Center addresses three key issues in mental health care.
“First, it provides long overdue support for therapists themselves, who we know are dealing with burnout across the profession and whose services are in higher demand than ever,” he said. “Second, the therapist directory will help professionals build a stronger business by attracting new clients. Third, it can help patients feel more supported during treatment, thereby improving the patient experience.”
He added that this would not place any financial burden on mental health professionals as all resources would be free to use.
The company partnered with several experts in the mental health field to build the resource, including IFS founder Dr. Richard Schwartz; psychologist Tara Brach; Kristin Neff, a professor and self-compassion expert; and psychologist Rick Hansen.
“The Insight Timer Therapist Center is a valuable new resource for mental health professionals. It not only supports clinicians in caring for their clients, but also provides tools to help care for their own health. I am pleased to contribute to the library a collection of free self-compassion worksheets that therapists can share directly with clients or use in therapy. The Center provides professionals with an easy way to integrate the wisdom of Insight Timer into their clinical practice,” Neff said in a statement.
Plowman said Insight Timer started building the therapist hub about a year ago, when it found that about 25,000 mental health professionals were already using the company to support patients. It aims to have 1 million therapists using the platform within the next two years.
“To achieve this, we have a simple product strategy—continue building more free tools based on feedback from mental health professionals using Therapist Hub,” he said.
Several other companies also offer resources to support independent mental health professionals, including Headway, Alma and Grow Therapy. However, these companies are primarily focused on connecting providers with patients and helping them with administrative tasks such as credentialing, onboarding, and billing.
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