SLU Clinicians Will Offer Free Psychological Services to St. Louis City Residents

SLU Clinicians Will Offer Free Psychological Services to St. Louis City Residents

St. Louisans seeking affordable mental health care can take the first step by getting a free assessment at Saint Louis University's Psychological Services Center.

Psychological assessments help determine cognitive, educational, emotional and behavioral difficulties for both children and adults and can result in diagnoses and recommended treatment plans tailored to each individual. Assessments can help diagnose issues like depression, anxiety, learning disorders, autism and ADHD, among others.

They can typically cost between $2,000 to $4,000 in the St. Louis area, estimates the Center's clinic director, Laura Burch, Ph.D., and so are often out of reach for patients who need them.

City residents are eligible to receive services at SLU's Psychological Services Center, thanks to a renewed grant from the St. Louis Mental Health Board, with a total award of about $1 million over five years.

"It feels really exciting because now people who historically haven't been able to afford quality evaluations can access them," Burch said.

"Beyond informing a treatment plan, a diagnosis also serves as a legal document and may fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act," she said. "It can open a lot of doors for people at school and work. In many cases, there may be specific accommodations that can help individuals thrive in these environments."

Since receiving initial funding, the Center has been able to create multiple paid positions for its doctoral students, who then receive formal training in psychological evaluations and are overseen by a licensed psychologist. To date, the team has since provided more than 200 evaluations for the community, up from an annual average of 35 evaluations the year before that.

Burch is particularly proud of how comprehensive the evaluations are, leading to life-changing results for patients.

"I worked with a client who thought they had ADHD, but a comprehensive evaluation revealed they were actually experiencing depression," Burch said. "Many conditions share similar symptoms, so our role is to identify the underlying cause and connect people with the right treatment. Once this client understood what was happening, they gained confidence in their abilities and immediately their grades and performance improved."

Beyond evaluations, the Center provides therapy services on a sliding scale basis, as well as referrals and assistance for some people who need services in different languages.

Burch emphasized the growing need for affordable mental health services, noting that she regularly hears from this niche of providers across the country, and acuity - the severity and urgency of a patient's condition - is going up everywhere, including locally.

"Suicides are increasing, unfortunately, in all demographics, and anxiety and depression rates are too. There are different reasons; our sociopolitical climate is part of that, and the challenges experienced with Covid-19 and this 'pre-' and 'post-Covid' generation that we see. And, social media plays a role, as well."

There is a waitlist for services, including an estimated wait of 6 to 12 months for an evaluation, but Burch says those who are interested should not be discouraged.

"Absolutely get on the waitlist, and if we can get you in sooner, we will," she said. "Funding is first-come, first-served, so it's better to get started now than to wait a couple of years and then get on a waitlist."

In addition to the expansion of accessibility for St. Louis City residents, the Center has, in recent years, received generous private funding to provide free evaluations and therapy services for SLU students, in collaboration with the Saint Louis University Counseling Center.

Founded in the Jesuit tradition of service and compassion for others, SLU's Psychological Services Center provides professional, affordable, and quality psychological services to the community.

Funding for these assessments comes from the Community Children's Services Fund and the Community Mental Health Fund from the St. Louis Mental Health Board. Each psychological assessment will require zero payment from patients who live in St. Louis city. To receive more information about a psychological assessment, including scheduling an initial intake phone call to see if the Center can meet your needs, contact SLU's Psychological Services Center at 314-977-2278.

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