She sat in her car in the parking lot for 20 minutes before going inside for her first appointment. It wasn’t nerves about the therapy session itself – it was the numbers she’d done in her head that morning, weighing a session against rent, groceries, gas … the growing list of things that felt more urgent than her own mental health. She almost didn’t walk in.
This is the kind of situation that people find themselves in all the time – having to choose between taking care of their mental health and the necessities of life.
Every July, Minority Mental Health Awareness Month asks us to look honestly at who has access to care – and who doesn’t.
For BIPOC communities, the barriers to mental health support are well documented: cultural stigma, a shortage of providers who understand lived experience, generational mistrust of clinical systems, and, perhaps most persistently, cost. Therapy is often treated as a luxury rather than a basic health need. For many families, the choice isn’t between one therapist and another – it’s between therapy and rent.
At Maria Droste Counseling Services, we don’t think that should be a choice anyone has to make.
That’s why our sliding scale fee structure isn’t a side note in how we operate, it’s central to it. When someone reaches out to us, their ability to pay doesn’t determine their ability to heal. We meet people where they are financially, the same way good therapy meets people where they are emotionally.
This matters especially for BIPOC individuals and families, who are statistically less likely to seek mental health care and more likely to face financial strain when they do. A sliding scale isn’t charity, it’s a structural acknowledgment that equitable care requires flexible pricing. It says: your circumstances don’t disqualify you from support.
Awareness months can sometimes feel like symbolic gestures – a hashtag, a graphic, a week of attention that fades. We’d rather use this month differently. We want it to be a reminder of what’s actually possible when a community builds care around access instead of assumption.
If you or someone you love has been putting off therapy because of cost, this is your sign: reach out. Ask about the sliding scale. Let us help you find a plan that works for your life, not just your budget.
Because mental health care shouldn’t be determined by what’s in your wallet, it should be determined by what you need.
Ready to talk? Contact Maria Droste Counseling Services to learn more about our sliding scale fees and how we can support you. You can reach us at (617) 471-5686 or info@mariadrostecounseling.com
#MentalHealthMatters #EndTheStigma