Mental Health Care Faces a Critical Shift: Collaborative Models Replace Solo Practice
SAN FRANCISCO – A growing consensus among healthcare leaders points to the limitations of customary, solo-practitioner mental health care, advocating for integrated, team-based approaches to improve patient outcomes and alleviate provider burden. Research, including a recent study highlighted in JAMA Psychiatry, demonstrates that integrating behavioral and physical health care leads to better mental health results, fueling a call for a essential rethinking of how mental health services are delivered.
The current system often leaves individuals navigating a fragmented landscape alone, while simultaneously placing unsustainable expectations on individual clinicians. “we can’t keep expecting solo clinicians to do it all,” emphasizes Colleen Marshall, MA, LMFT, Chief Clinical Officer at Two Chairs, a company pioneering innovative care models.
This shift recognizes that mental health care is most effective when “connected,” with providers sharing obligation, communicating openly, and coordinating care to ensure patients receive the right support at the right time. A team-based model promises increased accessibility, effectiveness, and support for both patients and providers.
Marshall, who brings over two decades of leadership experience in behavioral health, has been instrumental in developing and scaling such models at Two Chairs. Her prior roles across diverse behavioral health organizations – from community mental health to digital health companies – have consistently focused on advancing provider effectiveness and organizational impact through innovative care models and training programs. she holds a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California.
The move towards collaborative care isn’t merely a trend, but a necessary evolution to address the shortcomings of an “outdated” approach that is “falling short for the people who need it most,” according to the article. The future of mental health, experts agree, is collaborative, prioritizing a system where “no single provider should be expected to do everything.”
This post originally appeared on MedCity news through the MedCity Influencers program.
