Laserfiche WebLink
Breadcrumb Navigation:
14 <br /> A report published by the Boston Globe on December 4, 2002, found "Growing <br /> numbers of adults and children in Massachusetts are visiting mental health professionals, and are <br /> spending far longer in therapy...Americans generally are seeking more therapy, but <br /> this trend has turned out to be particularly pronounced in Massachusetts."Harvard Pilgrim <br /> Health Care said the number of talk therapy visits among its members increased <br /> 22 percent in 2001, and will grow another 17 percent in 1002. This trend intensified our <br /> concern. <br /> The project was planned during the spring and summer of 2002 and carried out during the <br /> fall. Committee members interviewed solo practitioners face to face and one on <br /> one and gathered information and interviewed two or more members of the four principal <br /> service providing agencies in the town. <br /> 2. MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE PROVIDERS IN LEXINGTON AND THE SAMPLE <br /> We pooled information from several sources, including HelpPro.com on the Internet, <br /> to develop a master list of professional service providers based in Lexington. The total <br /> number of private practitioners is 173. These include therapists who have an office in <br /> Lexington, even though their primary office is located elsewhere, as well as professional <br /> providers on the staffs of RePlace, Eliot Community Health Services,the Edinburg Center Inc. <br /> (formerly the Center for Mental Health and Retardation Services Inc.), and the Lexington High <br /> School Guidance Department. <br /> The Massachusetts Board of Registration informed us of how many licensed therapists - <br /> 36 psychiatrists, 179 psychologists, 425 social workers, and 86 allied mental health professionals <br /> - list their addresses in Lexington. Many of these individuals reside in Lexington but practice <br /> elsewhere. And many people are licensed but do not practice privately. Committee member <br /> William Blout, who has expertise in this domain, estimates from these data and from his <br /> knowledge of turnover and other changes, that at least 200 professional mental health service <br /> providers work in Lexington. We used our list of 173 names and office addresses to draw our <br /> sample, taking every sixth name from that list. We are grateful to the many practitioners who <br /> gave us their time and shared their expertise. ' <br />