Hello again, this is “Writings From The Web”!
Today is the two year anniversary of my own experience of being the victim of stalking and threats of violence, as well as my previous employer the local community mental health center telling me they could only make sure a secure door was locked. I had to take out a harassment and restraining order in order to make sure myself and my colleagues were relatively safe in the building.
Mental health counselors dedicate their professional lives to supporting individuals experiencing emotional distress, trauma, psychiatric symptoms, and significant life challenges. While counselors are trained to assess risk, recognize warning signs, and develop safety plans for clients, an equally important conversation is often overlooked: Who is protecting the mental health professional when the threat is directed toward them?
Workplace violence in mental health settings is a serious occupational safety concern. It does not begin and end with physical assault. Stalking, harassment, intimidation, threats of violence, unwanted contact, and behaviors intended to instill fear are also forms of workplace violence. Furthermore, these behaviors do not necessarily remain confined to the clinical setting. They can extend into a counselor's personal life, home, and community.
The Statistics Are Difficult to Ignore
Research demonstrates that stalking and threats against mental health professionals are more common than many people realize.
A 2023 systematic review published in Trauma, Violence, & Abuse examined stalking among mental health professionals. Across the studies reviewed, reported prevalence ranged from 10.2% to 50%. However, the higher quality studies reported a narrower prevalence range of approximately 13.9% to 14.3%. The researchers noted that differences in how stalking was defined made it difficult to establish one definitive prevalence estimate.
A 2023 national study of 2,616 professional counselors found particularly concerning results:
More than 75% reported experiencing some form of client initiated workplace violence.
44.6% reported that a client or client's family member had threatened to harm them.
18% reported being stalked by a client through technology.
8.8% reported being stalked in person by a client.
These findings illustrate that threats and stalking are not isolated occupational experiences. They are significant risks within the counseling profession.
It is important to recognize that these percentages represent different experiences and should not be combined into one overall victimization rate.
When Workplace Violence Becomes Personal
For counselors who experience stalking or threats, the impact can extend far beyond the workplace. Persistent unwanted contact, surveillance, intimidation, and threats can produce hypervigilance, anxiety, sleep disturbance, fear, and symptoms consistent with traumatic stress.
The experience can fundamentally change how a professional approaches their work and personal life. Counselors may begin altering their routines, limiting community involvement, changing how they communicate, and questioning their personal safety in places that previously felt secure.
This is not simply an occupational inconvenience. It is a legitimate safety and mental health concern that deserves organizational recognition and meaningful intervention.
My own experience with this issue has reinforced just how vulnerable mental health professionals can be when threats become personal. As documented in local reporting, I experienced an incident involving a Round Lake man who was charged with threatening the Nobles County Attorney.
The incident highlights an important reality: threats directed toward professionals can have implications that extend beyond the immediate workplace. The emotional and psychological consequences do not disappear simply because an office door is locked or the workday has ended.
Read the local news coverage of my incident
A Locked Door Is Not a Safety Plan
One important lesson I learned at my previous place of employment, the local community mental health center, is that employers need to recognize that making sure a secure office door is locked does not constitute an adequate safety plan.
A locked door may be one component of physical security, but it does not address the broader complexities of stalking, targeted threats, or workplace violence. Individuals engaging in stalking behaviors may use technology, monitor routines, approach professionals outside the workplace, or identify vulnerabilities that a physical barrier cannot prevent.
Effective workplace safety requires a comprehensive and proactive approach.
Organizations employing mental health professionals should consider implementing:
Individualized threat assessments: Evaluate the nature, frequency, escalation, and credibility of threats, including stalking behaviors and unwanted contact.
Comprehensive safety planning: Develop individualized protocols that address both workplace and personal safety.
Environmental security: Assess access controls, visitor procedures, emergency exits, alarm systems, surveillance, and the availability of immediate assistance.
Communication protocols: Establish clear procedures for reporting threats, documenting incidents, sharing relevant safety information, and notifying appropriate authorities.
Law enforcement collaboration: Develop working relationships with local law enforcement when credible threats or stalking behaviors emerge.
Employee support: Provide access to trauma informed support, employee assistance resources, and reasonable workplace accommodations when safety concerns arise.
Ongoing reassessment: Recognize that stalking and threatening behaviors can escalate or change over time. Safety plans must be dynamic rather than treated as one time interventions.
Most importantly, responsibility for workplace safety should not fall exclusively on the individual counselor experiencing the threat.
Changing the Conversation in Mental Health Care
Mental health professionals are often expected to remain calm, compassionate, and clinically grounded when working with individuals experiencing significant emotional dysregulation. However, professional training and clinical competence do not make counselors immune to intimidation, stalking, or violence.
There is also a risk that professionals may minimize threatening behaviors because of their commitment to therapeutic relationships, concerns about confidentiality, or fear of being perceived as unable to manage difficult clinical situations.
We must challenge the assumption that experiencing workplace violence reflects a failure of clinical skill or professional judgment. Being threatened or stalked is not a professional failure. It is a safety issue that warrants appropriate intervention.
The counseling profession must move beyond reactive approaches to workplace violence. We need organizational cultures in which reporting threats is encouraged, concerns are taken seriously, and clinicians are supported without judgment.
A locked door is a barrier. It is not a comprehensive safety strategy.
Mental health counselors deserve to feel safe while providing care, and they deserve the same attention to risk assessment, prevention, and protection that they routinely provide to others.
Protecting the people who provide mental health care is not optional. It is an essential component of ethical practice, organizational responsibility, and a sustainable behavioral health workforce.
Research references
1. Harris, N., Sheridan, L., & Robertson, N. (2023). Prevalence and Psychosocial Impacts of Stalking on Mental Health Professionals: A Systematic Review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. Read the research .
2. Incidence of Client Initiated Workplace Violence Among Counselors: A National Study. (2023). Journal of Counseling & Development. Read the research .
3. Carr, M. L., & Goranson, A. C. (2014). Stalking of the Mental Health Professional: Reducing Risk and Managing Stalking Behavior by Patients. Journal of Threat Assessment and Management. Read the research .
If you’re curious to learn more about me, my services, or how we might work together, I invite you to visit my profile on Psychology Today:
👉 Charlotte Heinz-Hoefert, LPCC,NCC – Psychology Today
We are all beautifully woven.
Warmly,
Charlotte Heinz-Hoefert, MS, LPCC, NCC