Why ‘We Help Everyone’ Is Quietly Burning Out Our Mental Health Systems
The iconic two-panel comic of “This Is Fine,” drawn in 2013, became a popular web meme that has been re-imagined countless times. (Illustration by K.C. Green)
If you lead a mental health organization or private practice and someone asked “what do you do?” you might say:
“My organization helps children, youth, adults, couples, caregivers, and families with anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship issues, grief, and other life challenges.”
The heart behind that sentence is beautiful. You see the gaps in your community. You see the demand. You want your doors open to as many people as possible.
But there’s a hard, quiet truth most mental health professionals don’t see:
When your message is too broad, the people you’re best able to help often assume you can’t help them.
And that can has real consequences for your team and the people who are trying to find help.
When “We Help Everyone” Sounds Caring, But Feels Confusing
Imagine someone in your community.
It’s 11pm. They’re tired, scared, maybe a bit ashamed. They finally Google around for support and land on your website or social media.
They read:
“We support individuals and families with a range of mental health needs.”
It sounds nice. But it’s vague.
Inside their head, they’re asking:
“Do they really mean my situation?”
“Maybe what I’m going through isn’t that bad…my problem wouldn’t be worth their time anyways…”
“Can they even help me… I don’t even know what I’m feeling or why I’m having such a rough time.”
When your “who we serve” descriptions sound foggy, people who are already doubting themselves rarely push through. They close the tab, promise themselves they’ll revisit it later… and often don’t.
So they wait. Till it’s too much. Till their life is on fire. And by the time they reach out, they are in a full crisis.
How Vague Messaging Creates Crisis-Level Work
From the organization’s side, it looks like this:
Overloaded waitlists filled with people who reached out late because they weren’t sure they “counted” sooner.
Staff burnout, because the bulk of your caseload is now high-intensity, crisis-driven work.
Firefighting instead of prevention, because people are only showing up when everything in their life is already on fire.
It’s not because your services aren’t valuable. It’s because your communication doesn’t clearly say:
“Yes, we mean you. Yes, you’re welcome here before things get unbearable.”
Why Being Specific About “Who You Serve” Is Not Exclusion
This is where many people get stuck.
They worry that naming a specific group will exclude people. It feels like closing the door.
But in practice, clarity does the opposite:
It reassures the people you’re especially equipped to help.
It helps them see themselves in your programs and services.
It gives them language to advocate for themselves
Specificity isn’t about saying, “We only ever help X.” It’s about saying, “We are especially here for X and if that’s you, you don’t have to wait until your life is completely in crisis to reach out.”
Vagueness excludes silently. Clarity welcomes boldly.
“Who We Serve” as Prevention, Not Just Marketing
In mental health, marketing often gets framed as something nice to have, maybe even a little suspicious.
But clear “who we serve” language isn’t a luxury. It’s a form of upstream care.
When people understand:
who you’re for
what problems you help with
what changes after working with you
They’re more likely to reach out when they’re almost ready, not when they are at their breaking point.
And when they reach out earlier, they’re usually far more open to:
being placed on a waitlist
using self-guided tools, groups, or interim supports
accepting a referral if your service isn’t the best fit
They don’t feel dismissed. They feel supported.
The impact on your team? Less relentless crisis work. More space for sustainable, effective support.
A Simple First Step: Define the People You Serve
You don’t need a full-time communications team to do this work. You do need:
a quiet afternoon (or morning if you are an early bird)
some good guiding questions, and
the courage to put into words what you already know in your gut.
That’s exactly what Mission-Focused Marketing: Part One – Defining the People You Serve is designed to help you do.
It walks you through:
getting clear on who you help (without feeling boxed in)
understanding the transformation you create and how to talk about it
crafting a “who we serve” statement you can plug into your website, funding applications, staff training, and outreach
When mental health organizations articulate exactly who they serve, they don’t limit their impact but multiply it. Clarity becomes a form of care. It meets people before the breaking point. It reduces crisis work. It protects your team. And it ensures the people you’re best equipped to help actually find you.
If you’d like to go deeper, get clear on who you serve, and start communicating that clarity across your organization, you can access the full $27 workbook anytime.
👉 Reach out through my contact form, and I’ll send you the link and a preview of what’s inside.
Your clarity could be the upstream change your community has been waiting for.
