FAQ
General Questions
This project started as a conversation between two neighbors and friends. It is a story of goodwill and great networks. The genesis of The Emotional PPE Project is featured in a Boston Globe Article.
The Emotional PPE Project is a volunteer-run organization supported by a small part-time staff. Our team is made up of people who believe in the mission to reduce barriers to accessing mental health treatment in healthcare workers. Read more about our board of directors on the about page.
We are a not-for-profit entity incorporated in Massachusetts and with federal 501(c)(3) status. We are supported entirely by individual donations through our donation page.
For Healthcare Workers in Need of Mental Health Services
Yes! If you are in a healthcare-related job and have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, you are welcome to contact the practitioners in our directory.
The Emotional PPE Project functions as a directory only. We do not collect any personal data on you whatsoever. If you contact a mental health practitioner, you choose what you want to share with them, but The Emotional PPE Project has no access to what you discuss.
If your state has no practitioners listed, that means that we don’t currently have anyone in our database that is licensed to see clients in your state. We recommend you similar pro bono services such as Therapy Aid Coalition or Crisis Text Line. Note, however, that our directory is growing every day, and if you check back at a later time, you may be able to find a practitioner who is licensed in your state.
All practitioners in our database are licensed to provide counseling to clients in the state indicated.
The Emotional PPE Project’s services are not just for uninsured or underinsured healthcare workers. There are many non-financial barriers that healthcare workers face in accessing emotional support. Examples of such barriers include lack of time, stigma, and concern regarding professional repercussions.
See for yourself! Click here to read quotes from healthcare workers who have used our directory to find support.
For Mental Health Practitioners
If you are a licensed mental health practitioner in at least one US state or territory, you may sign up at the practitioner sign up page. After you do so, one of our volunteers will verify your license, after which you will be listed in our database that anyone who visits our website may access. If you have any questions about the sign up or licensure process, please contact practitioners@emotionalppe.org.
If a healthcare worker contacts you through our site from a state you are licensed to practice in, they will expect that you will provide pro bono telehealth sessions with them. What you do in the session(s) and how many you conduct with each client is up to you. We recommend that you discuss these details with the client prior to the first session. If you are contacted by a potential client via this site, AND after you complete your first session, please fill out a report to let us know. No personal information about clients should ever, in any circumstances be included in your reports. The reports are merely what help us monitor usage and understand how to improve our services.
It is up to you to decide if you want to provide services to the person that contacts you. We have intentionally left the definition of healthcare worker vague, as the need for mental health services is not limited to any particular profession or population.
No, this is not a service we provide. If you choose to be in our database, you will practice entirely under your own license and your own coverage.
If you are a mental health practitioner with an active license and are willing to provide pro bono mental health services to healthcare workers in need, you are qualified to be in our database.
Currently we are not able to predict how often you will be contacted. That will depend on the demand in your state vs how many practitioners are available in your state. But when you are contacted, please be sure to log the interaction. This is how we monitor usage and understand how to improve our services.
We have built our website such that potential clients will be directed to the database of practitioners that are licensed in their state. However, it may happen that you get contacted by someone from outside of the area where you are licensed to practice. As above, we cannot make a recommendation as to how to handle that situation beyond referring you to the regulations of your licensing body.
Volunteers are expected to provide pro bono sessions based on the needs of the client. We trust the clinical judgement of our volunteer providers in assessing the needs of their client and allow each provider to establish the number of pro bono sessions they are able and willing to offer. There may be clients who are looking for only a single session or to connect in a moment of acute crisis. There may be clients who are looking for longer term support. Per our terms of use, The Emotional PPE Project directory should not be used as a marketing tool, however negotiating continuing services rates/referrals following an agreed upon number of pro bono sessions is okay.
We leave the decision to provide group sessions to the discretion and expertise of the provider. Providers are welcome to make group sessions an option for prospective clients. We have had reports of volunteer providers holding group sessions for a client and their colleagues. We understand the value of group sessions, but organizing and hosting these sessions is not in the purview of The Emotional PPE Project. If you do organize a group session, please continue to submit reports for each new HCW you connect with.