Toolkit to Recruit Mental Health Professionals

We believe that within our communities we have the resources to address many of the challenges that face our society. These challenges, such as trauma during military service or being a victim of crime, often result in emotional pain and suffering. Our aim is to improve the mental health and emotional wellbeing of all persons by providing accessible mental health care and education.

Give an Hour’s mission is to develop resilient individuals and communities; to grow our social impact through responsive, scalable, individualized mental health programs aimed at closing access and delivery gaps to mental health care.  Our MHP network is an integral part of this mission.

Licensed mental health professionals carrying malpractice insurance can provide in person, virtual or phone therapy support. In addition to serving clients with insurance, providers in the network commit to serving a pro-bono client as well. Clients come to Give an Hour’s website and MHP’s agree to keep their profile up to date, and to always respond to inquiries from potential Give an Hour clients, even if they are unable to serve them.

More answers are available here.

No. There is no cost to participate as a provider in the Give an Hour network. It is important to note that participating mental health professionals agree to see, or be available to see, a pro-bono Give an Hour client, regardless of insurance. MHP’s treat clients the same as any other client in their practice.

Licensed MHP’s who are unable to offer clinical care may also volunteer in a myriad of ways with Give an Hour. Outreach events, consultations and education opportunities are some examples. For those who are currently working to complete their full licensure – Give an Hour welcomes your supervisor to join and assign appropriate clinical cases to you.

Give an Hour’s website has a MHP search feature where a client can research available providers in their state.

Nationally, Give an Hour serves any era and any discharge status of military and veterans, as well as their loved ones. There are no other qualifications for this care, other than having served or loving someone who has served in the military.

Regional or state initiatives have allowed Give an Hour to expand our volunteerism to serve additional populations in need. Typically, these projects are grant funded and specific. For more information regarding special population projects in your area, please email info@giveanhour.org.

The second largest source of new providers joining the network is colleagues and word of mouth. In that light, anytime you can discuss Give an Hour or serving in the network is one step closer to helping us achieve our goals. Offering to present to private practices, going to mental health conferences and discussing Give an Hour, attending small networking meetings where mental health professionals will also be attending; these are all excellent places to talk about Give an Hour. Remember, even telling ONE person can potentially provide over 4,800 of free care to someone in need. Whether in a meeting, over lunch or a casual conversation in your daily life- telling someone about Give an Hour can make a large impact.

Phone Sample: I’m calling in support of a nonprofit mental health organization called Give an Hour. Give an Hour’s mental health professionals provide free mental health services to military personnel and their families.  Do you have just a minute for me to tell you more about what we do? 

During times of peace and war, our service members, veterans and their families are on the front lines; managing and supporting the extraordinary needs of our nation. For each one of them, this service looks different, regardless, their resiliency and adaptability defines their experiences. As you know, thousands of thousands of young men and women have gone into harm’s way to serve this nation, and many, many have come home bearing the unseen wounds.

Some have taken their lives, turned to drugs and alcohol, or given up hope. Our government cannot meet all of the needs of these heroes. Give an Hour is committed to helping military families, who have given so much. This requires the help of dedicated, caring, mental health professionals who are willing to donate one hour of their time each week to help those who are affected by current and previous wars. 

These volunteers may choose to use that time for one on one counseling, or participate in many of our initiatives serving military in their community. There is a desperate need for more providers in your area, and we hope you will consider joining our network of 4,000 providers nationwide. If you would like, I can send you a follow up email, one time only, with additional information on the organization- where you can learn more and pass on to others who may be interested. I am also available now to talk more, but I know your time is valuable.

Sometimes, the opportunity arises to share about Give an Hour to an individual, or a group of individuals via written response. It is important to remember that while we are passionate about our work and the impact MHP’s can make, we do not want to overly solicit email group lists or individuals. Give an Hour recommends one to two emails per group or list per six months, to ensure we don’t over saturate individuals with unwanted messages.

Be sure to include the following in your message:

• Information about the organization and a link to our website
• Why YOU care about being involved with Give an Hour
• An example or a personal story of success
• A link to register as a volunteer MHP
• How to contact the organization for more information

Sample Email:

Mental Health affects the lives of every person in the world. In America, we know our veterans and military are on the front lines; managing and supporting the extraordinary needs of our nation. Service members, active, and reserve are being asked to answer their nation’s call to service. Military families and service members enter various cycles of service, to include training, schooling, deployments, reintegration, and transition.  Of those who have left military service, a Pew Research Center survey found that a plurality of all veterans (43%) say they had a “very easy” time readjusting to their post-military lives, and 29% say re-entry was “somewhat easy.” But an additional 21% say they had a “somewhat difficult” time, and 6% had major problems integrating back into civilian life.

Give an Hour is a national nonprofit that provides free mental health resources and services; reaching and connecting to veterans, military and families who may not otherwise qualify for, or seek care. Give an Hour’s network of mental health professionals donate one session per week of no cost mental health care, although not all providers have a client all year long.

As a national organization, we are seeing extraordinary service, flexibility, innovation, responsiveness and action in communities every day. Give an Hour understands the critical need for community-level support serving those who serve and remains a leader in mobilizing a network of mental health providers to bridge the gap in access to care for military, veterans and their loved ones. Mental health professionals are essential to helping our service members, veterans, and loved ones express their emotional needs and navigate creation of activities that help them build their sense of safety and decrease feelings of anxiety and isolation and we need your support to continue to serve. 

To learn more about volunteering in the Give an Hour network, visit.

Local newspapers or online blogs are great places to write an article about your experience with Give an Hour, or about the need for organizations that provide free mental health support. To help you get started, we have developed a few standard articles for your use, but feel free to create one of your own. We do ask that any time you are working with media entities, you let us know so we can amplify the work you are doing in our national network. Sample is available in our toolkit, linked on this page. You may also email info@giveanhour.org for more information or examples.

Give an Hour hosts a page for anyone to Share Your Story.  Share personal experiences about using or participating in the network help build confidence and mutual connection with others.

We invite you to share your story in the way that is most meaningful for you, and we will post and share as well!

Visit our online sites to collaborate and share. Let us know if you have information you would like us to share as well! If you make your own post, and would like us to help amplify your message, email info@giveanhour.org

Flyers/Brochures/Postcards are available for order: https://giveanhour.go.customprintcenter.com/register *one time registration required, digital prints are available at no cost

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