KY therapists should get more ongoing training
In talking about the mental health crisis, we often overlook a critical issue: Many mental health professionals lack the ongoing training they need to provide effective, modern care.
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- Therapists need more access to ongoing, quality training to provide effective mental health care.
- Current continuing education requirements are insufficient and often outdated, failing to address modern challenges and research.
- Lack of adequate training can lead to subpar or even harmful care, especially in a climate of increasing polarization and misinformation.
- A systemic overhaul of continuing education is needed, focusing on evidence-based, affordable, and modern training that incorporates self-reflection and bias examination.
Maya Angelou once said, “When we know better, we do better.” Through years of training future social workers at the university level, running a group practice and launching a continuing education curriculum, I’ve come to a disturbing realization:
Our therapists don’t have ample opportunity to know better, so they can’t do better for their clients.
In talking about the mental health crisis, we frequently focus on access to care, insurance coverage, and reducing stigma. But a critical issue too often overlooked is that many mental health professionals lack the ongoing training they need to provide effective, modern care. The problem is twofold; continuing education requirements are too little, and quality courses are few and far between.
This harms both therapists and the clients who trust them with their well-being.
While continuing education is mandatory for mental health professionals, requirements are inadequate. In Kentucky, the Board of Licensed Professional Counselors requires only 10 hours of continuing education annually, simply not enough time to dedicate to professional development.
The mental health system is suffering
Additionally, too many available courses are, quite frankly, laughable. I see trainings recycle decades-old content while ignoring current research and failing to address the challenges therapists face today. Our field is evolving rapidly, with new research emerging and cultural dynamics shifting, yet many continuing education platforms refuse to adapt. Plus, the rare quality training programs are often prohibitively expensive, inhibiting too many practitioners from accessing the best education.
The consequences of inadequate continuing education ripple through the entire mental health system. At best, clients receive outdated or incomplete care. At worst, they’re actively harmed. And in our current climate of increasing polarization and misinformation, the stakes are higher than ever.
The therapy field is not immune to the ideological divisions affecting broader society. Without rigorous, ethical, and evidence-based continuing education standards, therapists may inadvertently bring political biases or unscientific approaches into their practice.
Proper therapist training can significantly improve outcomes. One study found that therapists who participated in training emphasizing active learning methods — like role-plays and group instruction — followed by ongoing consultation, showed significant improvements in rated skills, enabling them to better serve their clients (Beidas et al., 2012). Despite this evidence, the barriers to quality training remain enormous.
Clients deserve therapists who receive ongoing training
The mental health field is at a crossroads.
We can continue with a system that leaves therapists underpaid, undertrained, and clients underserved, or we can turn it on its head to build a culture of career-long learning that elevates our entire profession. Our clients deserve therapists who are not only licensed but who receive ongoing training that equips them with the necessary skills to navigate constant challenges, ideological pressures while maintaining their commitment to ethical, evidence-based, client-centered care.
It’s time we gave them that.
The solution requires a complete reimagining of continuing education for mental health professionals. They must be evidence-based, modern, engaging, practical, and affordable.
I created the Bridge Academy to provide evidence-based continuing education for practitioners. Our classes offer a modern and affordable alternative to what is currently available. The courses emphasize a systems-based perspective that considers not just individual psychology but cultural context, environmental stressors, and social circumstances. Most importantly, they prioritize ongoing self-reflection and bias examination, helping therapists understand how their own experiences shape their practice.
We believe if more providers begin working together and thinking like us, we can change the current healthcare landscape for our providers and patients alike around the Louisville community and beyond.
Juniper Owens is a mental health educator with a focus on integrative mental health and media literacy. She is the co-founder and CEO of Bridge Counseling and Wellness, located in Louisville, and director of the Bridge Academy of Innovative Mental Health.
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