Therapy scholarships bridge financial gap

The State of Colorado will receive more than $880 million in opioid settlement funds over the next 18 years. The Southwest Colorado Opioid Regional Council (SWCORC), which serves Gunnison and five neighboring counties, is one of several regional councils created to distribute a portion of these funds at the local level.

As a first step in this process, SWCORC recently announced $1.5 million in grants to local organizations, to support opioid mitigation programs in the areas of prevention & education, treatment, harm reduction, recovery and law enforcement.

Four Gunnison-based organizations are among those to receive SWCORC awards for 2025/2026, including Gunnison Sanctuary Housing, Western Colorado University, and Gunnison County Mentors.  The fourth recipient is local non-profit CB State of Mind, which received $40,000 under the treatment category to support and expand their existing therapy scholarship program.

State of Mind was initially established in 2019 as part of a grassroots community effort to address Gunnison County’s high suicide rate, said Executive Director Meghan Dougherty. It became an independent nonprofit the following year, and has since evolved into the valley’s primary mental wellness connector.

Early on, the organization recognized that individuals seeking counseling were finding it difficult to connect with the right therapist, Dougherty said. The mental health care system is complex and can be hard to navigate, especially for someone already dealing with issues like addiction, depression or anxiety.

Many factors can play into finding a therapist who’s a good match, Dougherty said. Aside from the therapist’s area of specialization, things like gender, background and language skills can all be important. Some people prefer in-person counseling, where others would rather work remotely with a therapist who’s not local.  

“For some people, the thought of running into your therapist at the supermarket can be off-putting,” she said.

The challenge of making the right connection is compounded because many therapists already have full client lists and are not openly advertising their services. In the past, someone looking for counseling might have reached out to a few therapists, not heard back from them, and simply have given up.

CB State of Mind has addressed this problem by establishing its own relationships with more than 40 licensed therapists, within the Gunnison Valley and beyond. The list covers a broad range of backgrounds and specializations, and continues to grow over time.

When a person first contacts State of Mind, staff members conduct an initial screening to gather basic information. Then, within a couple of days, they identify a shortlist of three to five therapists that staff believes will be a good fit and facilitate initial contact. From there, most therapists offer a free initial consultation — usually enough for the person to narrow in on someone they’re going to be comfortable working with.

The second major challenge, Dougherty said, is affordability, and that’s where State of Mind’s therapy scholarship program comes into play. According to the most recent State of the Community Report, over 40% of Gunnison Valley residents are living below a self-sufficiency level. Many of them are uninsured, a situation that could worsen following recent changes to Medicaid eligibility.

But even for those with private health insurance, the cost of therapy can be prohibitive. Many local employers offer policies that lack adequate coverage for behavioral healthcare, Dougherty said. Copays and deductibles can be unaffordably high, and access to care is difficult because many therapists in the region don’t accept private insurance.

In 2020, State of Mind responded to these issues by starting their scholarship program, intended for individuals who were seeking counseling but unable to afford it. Each scholarship pays for up to 10 therapy sessions at no cost to the recipient. Since its inception, the program has grown by more than 40% and recently gave out its 560th scholarship.

Thanks to the SWCORC award, an additional 20 scholarships are now available for 2025, with 20 more in 2026, Dougherty said. Under the terms of the SWCORC grant, these additional scholarships will be used primarily to support individuals dealing with opioid abuse and co-occurring substance abuse/mental health issues (which represents about 20% of the overall demand for State of Mind services).

CB State of Mind gathers feedback from every therapy scholarship recipient once they’ve completed their sessions, and there’s no doubt that the program is having a positive impact, Dougherty said. 

“I was in a deep rut, and the scholarship gave me the support I needed to get out of that rut, understand it, and move forward,” said one recipient.

For more information or to seek help, visit cbstateofmind.org.

(William Spicer is a Gunnison-based freelance writer.)