Who Can Apply:
- At BetterHelp, expanding access to mental health support also means investing in the next generation of therapists. This year, our Therapist Impact Fund centers on women’s mental health and the launch of BetterHelp’s Permission Project.
- Through The Permission Project, BetterHelp is helping women recognize, question, and rewrite the unwritten rules they’ve been living by—the contradictory expectations that tell them to be ambitious, but stay likeable, to take care of everyone else, but keep their own needs small, to ask for help, but never be a burden. With this in mind, the Therapist Impact Fund’s NextGen Scholarship will support students preparing for careers in mental health whose experiences, perspectives, and ideas can help build a more inclusive and responsive mental healthcare system especially for women.
- Therapy is deeply personal, and a provider who understands the cultural, social, and everyday realities shaping someone’s mental health can make a meaningful difference. Through this scholarship, we want to empower future therapists to bring those perspectives into the field and help more women feel understood and supported, not just in managing stress, but in examining the expectations driving it.
Submission: To apply, please submit your résumé and transcript and respond to the questions below.
1. Your Path to Mental Health Care
How have your lived experiences shaped your decision to pursue a career in mental health, and how do they influence the kind of provider you hope to become?
2. The Unwritten Rules Women Carry
Through the Permission Project, we recognize and rewrite the unwritten rules women live by: the contradictory expectations that tell them to “do it all, but keep it together,” to “be ambitious, but stay likeable,” to “take care of everyone else, but make their own needs easy.” Which of these unwritten rules (one listed or one you come up with yourself) do you believe takes the greatest toll on women’s mental health, and how could a therapist help a client recognize and begin rewriting it?
3. The Future of Access
What is one change, whether related to technology, teletherapy, affordability, representation, or another area, that could make mental healthcare more accessible and effective for the next generation?
Deadline: February 1, 2027
Amount: $10,000
Learn More: https://bold.org/scholarships/nextgen-therapist/
