The PUSHES Project
A Bridges Family Life Center mental health equity initiative
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The PUSHES (Preparing Underrepresented Students for Holistic, Equitable Success) Project is a
program that supports Black and brown therapists in training to provide comprehensive mental
health services to uninsured and under-insured individuals and families. Our program provides high-quality, culturally sensitive supervision, training, and mentoring along with financial support to ensure more Black and Brown therapist enter and stay in the mental health field.
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Summary:
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Roughly one-third (32%) of adults in the United States reported symptoms
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of anxiety and/or depressive disorder in February 2022.
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Among these adults, 27% reported having unmet mental health care needs.
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In 2019, uninsured adults with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety
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and/or depression were significantly more likely to not receive mental
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health care (62%) compared to their insured counterparts (36%).
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Many employers have indicated that they have narrower provider
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networks for mental health services than other health care.
About the Program:
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By partnering with community-based organizations serving socio-economically
disadvantaged individuals and families, we are able to directly reach these
groups, provide our behavioral health services and address their unmet mental
health needs. We contract our services to these mission-aligned organizations,
which reduces the time spent by staff in mental health services navigation,
referral and coordination.
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Bridges Family Life Center is Black and woman-owned with over 50 years of
combined experience in providing culturally sensitive mental health treatment
to under-resourced communities. Our CEO, Janelle Johnson, LMFT is an award-
winning thought-leader in mental health and the current president of the
North Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (NCAMFT).
To date, our company serves over 500 individuals annually across North
Carolina. Our current partnerships include organizations such as, SAFEchild,
Hopeline NC, NBC Universal, Appalachian State University and more.