The mental health and substance use treatment workforce shortage has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — providers and people with lived experience face record-high overdose rates, increases in suicidal ideation and a continued lack of access to care.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing has been at the forefront of driving best practice standards aimed at bolstering, educating, empowering and guiding the national workforce, and building capacity at all levels.
Workforce shortages have always been an issue, but with the COVID 19 pandemic, they have become a crisis for our field. It is vitally important for National Council to spearhead solutions, mitigate future risk and support our local community mental health and substance use treatment workforce, so those who need care have the greatest chance of receiving safe, fair access.
Leveraging the field’s leading health experts, the National Council leads the design and delivery of capacity-building research, resources and tools to advance workforce development nationally, and advocates for policies at the federal and local levels.
The National Council’s Workforce Development goal is to educate and train the current and future members of the mental health and substance use treatment workforce, from direct care delivery and peer support to C-suite executives.
We help organizations build a data-informed workforce, organizational and community resilience, trauma-informed supervision and leadership, and eliminate gaps in implementation of organizational, systemic culture change.
The Center for Workforce Solutions is convening the field to develop actionable ideas and strategies to meaningfully improve the workforce crisis.
The Accelerator is expanding access to mental health and substance use care by increasing the number of licensed clinicians available to serve clients.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing is stepping up to the challenge, creating accessible, effective educational pathways to behavioral health careers.
Events
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Workforce Solutions Jam: Resilience in Action Session 2Nov 18, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
In today’s climate, resilience is important at every level. The behavioral health workforce strives to help clients become more resilient, while behavioral health leaders must be attentive to the resilience of their workforce. October’s Workforce Solutions Jam introduced multiple resilience-building strategies. In November, we’ll focus on one approach — applied…
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Middle Management Academy: January National TrainingJan 7, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
National Council’s Middle Management Academy helps behavioral health’s best and brightest reach their maximum leadership potential through hands-on learning. This popular and proven training is the only one of its kind — you can’t find a management course tailored for mental health and substance use treatment professionals anywhere…
