The country’s mental health systems, in general, are reaching a breaking point. More people are seeking mental health support while the number of providers is dwindling. This problem has hit Virginia especially hard, with the demand for services growing. While this shift reflects progress in awareness and stigma reduction, it has also placed significant strain on an already overextended system.
Today, Virginia’s mental health provider shortages are making it harder for those looking for services to access timely care. Long waitlists, limited appointment availability, and gaps in provider coverage, particularly for outpatient services, have become common issues for mental health access in Virginia.
Mission Connection is here to support people in Virginia who are trying to work through a dwindling mental health system. In this article, we explore why there’s a growing demand for mental health care in Virginia, and why the state is experiencing shortages. We will also broach how provider shortage affects outpatient mental health care, the impact of long waitlists, and how options such as telehealth can help.
Is There a Growing Demand for Mental Health Care in Virginia?
Yes, there is growing demand for mental health care in Virginia, as well as all over the country. Recent reports have shown that 23.4% of adults in the US experienced a mental health issue.1 This indicates more people are looking for care for concerns like anxiety, depression, chronic stress, and trauma.
But the specific growing demand for mental health care in Virginia may be due to:2
- How the lingering effects of the pandemic, like grief and isolation, continue to affect emotional well-being
- An uncertain economy and financial worries
- Larger gaps in income inequality
- Continued struggles with high rates of opioid and other substance use
- A rise in suicide rates that has increased 22% in the past two decades
These factors can leave everyone, from people seeking help to providers, feeling overwhelmed and in need of extra support. As more people reach out, limitations in Virginia therapist availability have become more apparent. Without enough licensed professionals to meet this need, too many people are likely to encounter delays that make it harder to receive care at the right time.
Mission Connection offers flexible outpatient care for adults needing more than weekly therapy. Our in-person and telehealth programs include individual, group, and experiential therapy, along with psychiatric care and medication management.
We treat anxiety, depression, trauma, and bipolar disorder using evidence-based approaches like CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and trauma-focused therapies. Designed to fit into daily life, our services provide consistent support without requiring residential care.
Why Virginia Is Experiencing a Mental Health Provider Shortage
While the demand for mental health care has risen, the number of available clinicians has not kept up with this demand. Many communities are facing a limited supply of licensed mental health providers in Virginia, making it harder for people to access consistent care when they need it most.
There are several reasons that might be driving the shortage of mental health providers. We cover these in the following paragraphs.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress and burnout have played a major role, with many clinicians managing high caseloads, administrative demands, and limited reimbursement options. Over time, this strain has led some providers to reduce their hours, leave clinical practice, or shift into non-clinical roles altogether.
Lack of New Providers
A large portion of Virginia’s behavioral health providers are at or nearing retirement age, with 61% of psychiatrists being 55 years or older.3 And not enough new clinicians are replacing them. This is mainly due to restraints like education, training, and supervision requirements that slow the entry of new clinicians into the workforce.
Location Gaps
Many of Virginia’s behavioral health shortages are in rural areas. Providers are often concentrated in more populated regions, leaving rural and underserved areas with fewer options. Though even in urban areas, there are provider shortages, as there aren’t enough providers to fill the demand. According to a recent study, 102 of 133 Virginia’s counties are federally designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), which accounts for 29% of their population.4
Together, these factors have created a Virginia behavioral health workforce crisis, where the need for care continues to grow, but provider capacity remains constrained.
The Impact of Long Waitlists and Limited Availability
The most immediate effect of Virginia’s healthcare workforce shortages is time. Long waitlists have become a common part of the experience, with mental health wait times stretching weeks to even months in some areas.
Wait times also depend upon services, with psychiatric appointments tending to have the longest waitlists. Across five different states, including Virginia, psychiatry appointment wait times ranged from 67 days for in-person appointments and 43 days for telehealth.5
Limited Virginia therapist availability also means fewer choices, so people may feel pressured to accept the first available appointment, even if the provider isn’t the best fit. Or they may need to delay getting care altogether. In regions affected by the availability of behavioral health services in Virginia, this can lead to lost chances for early intervention, allowing concerns to escalate before support is in place.
These delays can be especially discouraging for people who have already taken the difficult step of reaching out for help. Encountering repeated barriers may lead some to disengage, reinforcing feelings of hopelessness or self-blame.
How Provider Shortages Affect Healthcare
Ongoing Virginia healthcare workforce shortages have reshaped how the state delivers mental health care. As access to routine therapy becomes more limited, many people have to rely on short-term or crisis-based care as a way of getting treatment.
This means that hospitals and crisis centers become overloaded, which, ultimately, impacts medical healthcare. And while emergency departments and crisis centers can address immediate concerns, they are not designed to provide continued, in-depth therapy services.
At the same time, clinicians who are available are usually managing higher caseloads in response to the behavioral health staffing shortages in Virginia. This contributes to more burnout and further strains the workforce.
The Role of Telehealth in Expanding Access Across Virginia
As Virginia mental health care access issues continue, telehealth has become an essential tool for expanding support across the state. Having access to virtual care connects people around the state with providers.
So people in rural areas or underserved communities can access licensed mental health professionals. For many, this opens doors to care that would otherwise been impossible to reach. Telehealth also offers flexibility around work, caregiving responsibilities, and limits in transportation, making it easier to attend sessions consistently.
However, it’s important to acknowledge the limitations of telehealth. On top of there being a shortage of providers in general, reliable internet and private spaces are also not always available across the state.
Instead, telehealth works best as one part of a broader approach to addressing Virginia’s mental health system challenges, supporting access while longer-term workforce solutions continue to develop.
Finding Support Despite System Barriers
Trying to navigate a system that is already experiencing provider shortages can feel discouraging, especially when you’re placed on a waitlist or told that no immediate appointments are available. If this happens, staying on the waitlist can still be worthwhile as openings do occur; other people cancel or drop off the list. So even if the timeline is uncertain, you can stay on the waitlist and check in periodically while continuing to explore other providers.
It’s also important to know when to seek outpatient care versus when a higher level of support is necessary. You might be looking for outpatient therapy to help with emotional challenges, manage stress, or early intervention before problems become overwhelming. However, if symptoms worsen or safety becomes a concern, it might be more appropriate for you to look into intensive services.
How Mission Connection Supports Mental Health Access in Virginia
As Virginia mental health system challenges continue, Mission Connection offers treatment with accessibility and flexibility in mind. Our approach recognizes the realities of mental health care access issues in Virginia while focusing on responsive, personalized support rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
We provide flexible scheduling alongside both telehealth and in-person options to help reduce barriers related to location, time, and availability. Our services in Virginia include individual and group therapy, delivered by licensed clinicians using trauma-informed, evidence-based care. This model allows you to receive consistent support even amid broader behavioral health staffing shortages in Virginia.
If you’re struggling to find timely care or feeling discouraged by waitlists, reaching out may help you explore options that fit your needs and circumstances.
FAQs About Virginia’s Mental Health Provider Shortages
If you’re concerned about the mental health provider shortages in Virginia, it’s natural to have some ongoing questions after the information in this article. To help, we’ve provided the following answers to commonly asked questions on the topic.
1. Does Virginia Have a Shortage of Doctors?
Yes, it appears Virginia is experiencing healthcare shortages, not just in mental health, but across healthcare in general. Surveys predict that Virginia is expected to be short 3,911 doctors by 2030 and that 32.4% of Virginia’s doctors are in the range of retirement right now.6
2. Why Is There a Shortage of Mental Health Professionals?
There are several reasons for the shortage of mental health professionals. According to the American Counseling Association (ACA), the reasons for this are a lack of funding, poor reimbursement rates, low retention, and an aging workforce.7 Essentially, people are not as interested in becoming mental health professionals because of low pay, increased client load, and restrictions in the way providers are allowed to provide services.
3. How Many Mental Health Providers Are in Virginia?
According to surveys from 2023, Virginia has 224 behavioral health providers per 100,000 Virginians.8 This amount is significantly fewer than the national average. As a result, many communities experience mental health care access issues in Virginia, including long waitlists and limited provider choice.
4. How Can Mission Connection Help With the Mental Health Shortage in Virginia?
We support mental health access in Virginia by offering flexible outpatient care options that include telehealth as well as in-person services. We also work with a variety of insurance companies to provide you with affordable access to care. Through our trauma-informed, evidence-based care, Mission Connection strives to reduce barriers created by mental health wait times in Virginia and provide responsive support when access feels limited.
References
- National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2025, December 22). Mental health by the numbers. NAMI. https://www.nami.org/mental-health-by-the-numbers/
- USAFacts. (2025, November 19). How many people die by suicide in Virginia each year? https://usafacts.org/answers/how-many-people-die-by-suicide/state/virginia/
- Virginia Health Care Foundation. (2025, August 6). Capacity of Virginia’s licensed Behavioral health workforce. https://www.vhcf.org/data/capacity-of-virginias-licensed-behavioral-health-workforce/
- Andrew, M., Briscombe, B., Vardavas, R., Wolters, N., Qureshi, N., Nham, W., & Abir, M. (2024). Identifying strategies for strengthening the health care workforce in the Commonwealth of Virginia. RAND Health Quarterly, 11(2), 1. https://doi.org/10.7249/rraq11.2.1/
- Sun, C., Correll, C. U., Trestman, R. L., Lin, Y., Xie, H., Hankey, M. S., Uymatiao, R. P., Patel, R. T., Metsutnan, V. L., McDaid, E. C., Saha, A., Kuo, C., Lewis, P., Bhatt, S. H., Lipphard, L. E., & Kablinger, A. S. (2023). Low availability, long wait times, and high geographic disparity of psychiatric outpatient care in the US. General Hospital Psychiatry, 84, 12–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2023.05.012
- Migrate. (2024, October 28). Virginia physician shortage facts. Cicero Institute. https://ciceroinstitute.org/research/virginia-physician-shortage-facts/
- Phillips, L. (2023, May). A closer look at the mental health provider shortage. www.counseling.org. https://www.counseling.org/publications/counseling-today-magazine/article-archive/article/legacy/a-closer-look-at-the-mental-health-provider-shortage
- Virginia Task Force on Primary Care. (2023). Virginia Behavioral Health Spend report. In Virginia Task Force on Primary Care [Report]. https://www.vahealthinnovation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/VA-Behavioral-Health-Report.pdf
