CLERMONT, Fla. — As Spectrum News wraps up Mental Health Awareness Month, it’s one thing to be aware of mental health, but seeing it translated into your own community is a different story.
What You Need To Know
- According to the National Institutes of Health, over 60% of rural Americans live in designated mental health provider shortage areas
- Dr. Treshonda Daucom wanted to be a part of the resources serving the South Lake County area by promoting affordable care and a diverse set of therapists.
- She hopes to expand her practice to more areas, allowing even more people to receive mental health support
According to the National Institutes of Health, over 60% of rural Americans live in designated mental health provider shortage areas, which is a federally recognized area that has a shortage of providers.
For mental health, the population to provider ratio must be at least 30,000 people to one provider. It’s even less if there’s a lot of high needs in the community. Despite seeing growth, many areas in Lake County are seeing this type of shortage.
Dr. Treshonda Daucom grew up in a military family, moving from Japan to California before her family settled down in Clermont. Seeing the community and population grow, she wanted to be a part of the resources serving the south Lake County area by promoting affordable care and a diverse set of therapists.
“I knew some of the needs just by living here. I thought my practice could be one of those resources that could come in and bring in a diverse group to help meet diverse needs,” said Daucom.
Daucom focuses on kids at Enriched Life Counseling, using tools like sandboxes to help open up her patients to talk about their mental health.
“Play therapy is a specific form of therapy that’s tailored to allowing them to be able to express, communicate, and work on goals,” she said.
While Daucom mainly helps kids, Erika Blunston’s heart is helping adults. Blunston came to Clermont from South Florida to help Daucom’s practice.
Four years ago, Daucom had a waitlist with such a high demand for mental health services. Since then, both therapists have seen a difference in the patients they help.
“You have the ability to see someone come in and explain what their presenting problems are, go through a full treatment plan giving them the tools and the techniques they need,” said Blunston. “And they’re doing the work and seeing the progress at the end. It’s a very special moment.”
But with an ever-changing industry and community, Blunston hopes to see more accessibility not only in Clermont, but its surrounding towns she also helps serve.
“I would love to see more private practice offices with more diversity within clinicians, as well as in-patient facilities. Just more resources as a whole that the community is able to utilize,” said Blunston.
As Daucom reflects on her time growing up in south Lake County, she believes the community has grown better at accepting and starting the conversation on mental health.
“Now, as we’ve grown and developed, the schools are offering it within the schools and there’s a lot more providers in the area,” said Daucom.
She hopes to expand her practice to more areas, allowing even more people to receive mental health support.