Michigan's mental health crisis extends beyond students: Teachers struggle too

LANSING – “When I was a teacher, I felt like I connected so much with the kids who were struggling, I felt like I took that home with me,” said Becky Halamka, a Negaunee Public Schools counselor and founder of Superior Educator Wellness Services.

Before becoming a counselor, Halamka taught high school physical and health education for three years. The reason for the career transition was inspiration from her students, she said.

“There were a couple of students in particular I grew close to and had a great relationship in my class, but I didn’t know how to help them,” Halamka said. “They were struggling with things above my training. I felt stuck.”

Halamka decided to invest her time educating herself on how to help her students, graduating in 2013 from Western Michigan University with a master’s degree in education school counseling.

“I didn’t realize I spent more of my mental energy thinking about how to support these kids than I wanted to spend on planning my lessons or actual classroom work,” said Halamka.

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According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 22.8% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2021.

“If teachers can be genuinely mentally and emotionally healthy, that trickles down to their students,” said Halamka. “If a teacher is feeling well, they can model that for their students.”

Following a student suicide in the Negaunee district, Halamka created the idea for Superior Educator Wellness Services. In April 2024, the school board approved $5,000 in funding for her to provide free teacher wellness services.

Based on feedback from patients and other staff, Halamka said she thinks her services are unique because of her previous classroom experience.

“A teacher reaches out to a professional and they’re in a counseling session with someone who has never been in education,” said Halamka. “Instead of being able to unload, they first need to set the scene and context. The counselor’s only experience in education may have only been when they went to school themselves.”

According to Don Wotruba, the executive director of the Michigan Association of School Boards, two challenges districts face in retaining their educators are mental health and staff shortages.

“There is a lack of mental health professionals in schools due to the private sector having more money to hire psychologists,” Wotruba said.

According to Wotruba, one way districts are combatting school psychologist shortages is by using telehealth services to communicate with medical service providers.

According to Lauren Mangus, the president of the Michigan Association of School Psychologists, districts are still struggling to help manage their personnel despite efforts to solve the problems of too-small staffs and too-high counselor-student ratios.

“Because of the school psychologist shortage in Michigan, we are often relegated to use only certain skill sets for testing,” said Mangus.

According to the association, the ratio between school psychologists to students in the state is about 1:1,500, three times the recommended amount.

Mangus works for Corewell Health in Southfield as a psychotherapist doing evaluations, providing therapy and conducting student observations. Previously, she worked as a school psychologist for Port Huron Schools, Fitzgerald Public Schools and Bloomfield Hills Schools.

“With educators I work with, teachers are amazing,” said Mangus. “They’re able to compartmentalize and put on a brave face for students. But, when you have them one-on-one, they have things going on personally.”

Mangus ties educator mental health struggles to staffing shortages, burn-out and vicarious trauma.

“There’s teacher compassion fatigue,” she said. “If there are things that are traumatizing to students, knowing those things are trauma” to counselors and psychologists.

Teacher mental health support varies by district due to insurance policies and administrative cultures. according to Mangus.

“Support depends on the culture and climate of the district,” she said. “It depends on what administrators are doing that make kids and staff feel physically and psychologically safe.”

Mangus said she hopes future resources will focus more on individual needs, not simply trying blanket solutions due to funding problems.

“For my particular business right now – I only serve one district – I hope the employees utilize me,” said Halamka. “I don’t need to corner the market in this. I hope other districts recognize [teacher mental health services] as a need and find a way to make it happen for their educators.”