Free Telehealth Counseling Expands Mental Health Access in the Bronx

Lehman College’s telehealth counseling center is expanding access to care in the Bronx, an area long burdened by rising mental health needs and limited treatment options.

According to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), the borough faces the highest rates of depression in the city, with 16 percent reporting probable depression compared to 13.4 percent citywide. 

Stuart Chen-Hayes, professor of counselor education in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Literacy, and Special Education at Lehman, played a critical role in bringing the Bronx Telehealth Counseling Center (BTCC) to life. 

“The Bronx has been so underserved, and our mission is to close the gaps in access and affordability,” he explained. “That means offering free counseling, led right where the need is greatest — and telehealth is the future.”

Cost remains one of the steepest barriers to care. Many private providers do not take insurance, citing low reimbursement rates, and those who do often come with long waitlists. 

In the Bronx, where the median household income is the lowest of any borough, — about $48,000 — it can mean the difference between getting help and going without. 

When it comes to seeking treatment, among Bronx adults with serious psychological disorders,  40 to 76 percent report unmet treatment needs, according to the DOHMH.

“People tell us all the time, ‘I called 20 counselors, and none of them take my insurance,’” Chen-Hayes said. “That’s why free services matter. Otherwise, the people who need it most are simply left out. In the Bronx, this is a game changer.”

The BTCC is staffed by graduate students and clinical trainees from both Lehman’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling program and its social work department. Under the supervision of a licensed clinical social worker and other faculty, students provide free, year-round counseling for individuals, couples, families and groups.

Michelle Bell, the BTCC’s clinical director, calls it a “win-win.” 

“Our students benefit from supervision and case consultation while building their confidence as clinicians,” she explained. “And the Bronx community — which too often faces long waitlists, costs, or stigma — can connect with trained counselors without those barriers.”

Services are available on evenings and weekends, a deliberate choice to reach working families. They are offered in both English and Spanish, and additional languages are planned as the program grows. Sessions are conducted virtually, requiring only a device with internet access and a private space to speak comfortably. Insurance is not required, and no one is turned away. 

The center is also an extension of a program that is reshaping Lehman’s role in counselor education in the city. Working in conjunction with the 3-year-old Counselor Education: Clinical Mental Health Counseling  (CMHC) program.

It is both CUNY's only online CMHC program, and its only one offered full-time on Saturdays and year-round. It joins the 55-year-old Counselor Education: School Counseling program at Lehman.

It combines advanced coursework with supervised practicums and internships. Students complete the clinical hours required for licensure while serving directly in the Bronx, linking professional training to community care.

The program graduated its first cohort this year. Some of those students helped staff the BTCC in its opening months. Faculty say it is a way to address two shortages at once in many ways, including the lack of locally trained counselors.

Hysalene Dixon was among them. Having spent 15 years as a court officer in Brooklyn family court, she decided to pursue counseling after years of watching families unravel in a system that felt more punitive than supportive. 

She graduated with Lehman’s first cohort of clinical mental health counselors this year and said the opportunity to serve in the BTCC felt urgent.

“People think the worst of the Bronx, but what I see is a rich community that deserves the best,” Dixon said. “Families here are navigating stress, trauma and systemic inequities. Being part of a program that treats people with dignity, while also learning the ropes of practice, has been transformative.”

For Dixon, the work also carried a personal weight. 

As a Black woman, she said she grew up in a community where therapy was often stigmatized — not something meant for “families like hers.” Training at Lehman and the BTCC helped dismantle that narrative, both for her and for the clients she met.

“There’s this belief that if you’re Black, you’re supposed to be strong, you don’t talk about what’s going on at home, you don’t ask for help,” she said. “But I’ve learned that strength is also in being able to sit across from someone and say, ‘I need support.’ I wanted my clients to see that reflected in me.”

For Chen-Hayes, the larger goal is to build a pipeline of bilingual and culturally competent counselors rooted in the Bronx, with the aim that graduates will remain in the borough to serve the communities that need them most.

“Our antidote to inequities is to train the next generation of counselors here, for this community,” Chen-Hayes said. “They’ll be the ones to sustain this work long after the pilot. And in doing so, they’ll help move people from just surviving to thriving.”

For more information, contact BTCC via phone at 332-242-6700 or through email, Bronx.telehealth@lehman.cuny.edu.

•  332-242-6700