Rounding Up Support: Strengthening Texas’ Mental Health
Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Texas with Legend Counseling
Mental health has emerged as a pressing public health crisis in Texas, impacting individuals, families, and entire communities. From urban centers like Houston and Dallas to remote rural counties, Texans encounter significant barriers to timely, affordable care—resulting in untreated conditions, overburdened emergency services, and a growing human and economic toll. Addressing these challenges requires both systemic solutions and accessible, personalized support options.
The state faces a critical shortage of mental health professionals, with 246 of Texas’s 254 counties designated as Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas. For children and adolescents, the gap is even more severe: just 10 child and adolescent psychiatrists per 100,000 youth compared to the recommended 47. This deficit forces families to endure long wait times, travel great distances, and juggle scarce appointment slots.
Prevalence rates underscore the urgency. One in five Texas adults—nearly 4.8 million people—experience a mental illness each year. Among adolescents, one in six reports a major depressive episode annually, affecting roughly 483,000 young Texans. In 2022 alone, suicide claimed 4,368 lives in Texas, highlighting the need for early intervention and robust crisis support.
Funding gaps and an over-reliance on temporary federal relief programs further threaten service continuity. While recent legislation has injected new dollars into community behavioral health programs and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, much of this funding is time-limited. Sustained investment is essential to prevent service disruptions as demand continues to climb.
Access disparities between urban and rural areas widen the treatment gap. Although 75% of Texans live in urban or suburban settings, more than 13 million residents inhabit regions with insufficient mental health professionals. Rural families often face lengthy travel times, few specialty providers, and limited broadband access, making telehealth an indispensable lifeline.
Legend Counseling offers on-the-go mental health care tailored for Texas’s diverse needs. Founded by Chris Denzler, MA, LMHC, LPC—an experienced clinician with over a decade of trauma-informed practice—Legend Counseling provides flexible, online therapy and coaching designed around each client’s lifestyle. Their philosophy? “Therapy isn’t about fixing what’s broken—it’s about discovering what’s strong and using it to move forward”.
Legend Counseling Services:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for restructuring negative thought patterns
Narrative Therapy to reframe life stories and build resilience
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focused on values-driven behavior change
Couples Counseling to improve communication and emotional connection
Family Counseling to resolve conflicts and strengthen relationships
Through flexible online sessions, Legend Counseling delivers care across Texas via secure, remote consultations. Clients benefit from personalized treatment plans, convenient scheduling, and the ability to engage from home or on the go—bridging the urban-rural divide and mitigating travel burdens.
A path forward for Texas lies in innovative, community-driven solutions. Expanding telepsychiatry, offering loan-repayment incentives for clinicians in shortage areas, creating a dedicated Behavioral Health Trust Fund, and pursuing Medicaid waivers can all strengthen the system. Models like Legend Counseling demonstrate how virtual care can complement traditional services, ensuring every Texan can access professional support.
Texas stands at a crossroads: with sustained funding, a bolstered workforce, and expanded telehealth, mental health care can become a cornerstone of public policy rather than an underfunded afterthought. Organizations like Legend Counseling are already moving the needle—helping Texans live legendary lives, one session at a time.
