Mental Health Providers' Responses to Prospective Client Inquiries: An Investigation of Response Rates

Public Significance Statement The purpose of this study was to examine the response rates to initial client inquiries for treatment. Results indicated a 2% response rate across all client conditions, mental health disciplines and geographical location. The results are congruent with other studies in this area and highlight a significant obstacle to the access of mental health treatment. Possible solutions to this dilemma, such as a reform to ethical codes, were suggested. As demand for mental health services rise, clinicians and scholars have turned their attention to questions related to access. In particular, scholars have focused on the initial point of contact when prospective clients seek services. Existing literature demonstrates the importance of timely entrance into treatment and the negative consequences of wait-lists for a wide variety of clinical issues. Waiting for services has been found to impact attrition rates and various aspects of client welfare. However, while the mental health community agrees on the importance of getting clients into treatment, there has been little research on how quickly various mental health professionals respond to client inquiries for appointments or the professional-based variables that might impact that response rate. The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature by assessing mental health professionals' (psychologists, licensed professional counselors/licensed mental health counselors, and licensed clinical social workers) responses to various types of client inquiries. The article reports very low response rates and discusses clinical implications and potential solutions.