Mental Health Fund FAQs

2026

What is the Mental Health Fund?

The MHF provides crucial financial support to Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous and People of Color to increase access psychotherapy.

How does this work?

The Mental Health Fund provides financial support for up to 8 sessions with a licensed or pre-licensed psychotherapist. All applicants will receive $150 per session.

For Applicants

  • Applications will be open from July 1-15, 2026. Please note that we may have to close the application early if we receive an overwhelming amount of applicants. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible to be considered.

    Applicants will be notified no later than August 7, 2026 as to whether or not they will receive the award.

  • In order to apply, you will need to:

    1. Identify as a Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous and/or Person of Color in need of financial assistance
    2. Be 18 years or older
    3. Live in the United States
    4. Have or find a licensed or pre-licensed psychotherapist who agrees to participate in this program.
    5. Applicant must provide the MHF Intro Letter for Therapists to their practitioner
    6. If you skip this step it could delay or deny your acceptance so make sure your share the Intro Letter for Therapists and let your practitioner know that they can reach out to us with any questions at mhf@nqttcn.com
    7. Use resources toward self-pay therapy, not insurance copays

  • Upon acceptance, awardees and practitioners will have two-weeks to complete the documents to begin the award period. The therapist will then submit a monthly invoice to receive payment. MHF pays the therapist directly for the awarded sessions invoiced for. Clients will not need to be involved in the payment process after signing the award agreement documents.

  • Yes, you are welcome to apply again, even if you were awarded funds previously.

  • Yes, you are welcome to use the funds for couples, relationship or family therapy.

For Therapists

  • The award period begins on the date listed on your Third Party Payor form. Once fully signed you can begin invoicing for sessions.

  • Therapists can submit invoices monthly via the payment form which will be shared via email after the Third Party Payor Agreement has been signed. Therapists must submit a W-9 and banking information to receive payment. Therapists may not invoice for sessions that have not yet occurred or are outside of award period on the Third Party Payor Form.

  • If psychotherapy rates exceed that of the award per session, the practitioner will need to collect the remainder of payment directly from the client.

  • All practitioners will be paid $125 per session regardless of rate.

  • If your client decides to change therapists during the award period, they and their new practitioner will need to complete documentation to bill for the outstanding sessions. Please invoice for any sessions you completed with the client within the award period. The remaining sessions can be transferred to their new therapist.

  • All therapists will receive an invoicing email by 9/1/2026 at the latest, which details the steps and provides the links necessary for the invoicing process. Please do not send us any documentation through email.

  • Once you send the corrected invoice back to us, your invoice will be processed between 7-10 business days after the date of resubmission.

  • Please email mhf@nqttcn.com with any questions or for general support.

For Awardees

  • Awardees and practitioners will need to complete a Third-Party Payor form to begin the award period. You will receive the form electronically via DocuSign, then your therapist will sign, followed by NQTTCN. Once all parties have signed the Third Party Payor form, you will receive the fully signed agreement via email from DocuSign.

  • Your eight sessions covered by MHF must be scheduled within the award period which ends November 30, 2026. You can find this information on your Third Party Payor form.

  • NQTTCN will pay the therapist the awarded amount directly, you do not have to reach out to NQTTCN to pay your practitioner.

  • Please email us at mhf@nqttcn.com as soon as you know. If none of the eight sessions awarded have been utilized within 30 days, the funding awarded may be redistributed back into the Mental Health Fund for other applicants.

  • Email us at mhf@nqttcn.com to let us know the number of sessions you will be using as soon as you know. 

  • Extension of award periods can be made in special circumstances, please reach out to mhf@nqttcn.com to request an extension.

  • Requests for additional sessions are considered on a case by case basis and dependent on available funding for MHF. Please reach out to mhf@nqttcn.com to request additional sessions.

  • If you need to change therapists, your new therapist will need to agree to the terms of the program and sign a Third Party Payor Agreement form. You’ll need to notify us via email about the change in practitioner, as soon as you make your change of therapist, so that we can send out the new documents for signature. Your new therapist must agree to participate in the Mental Health Fund program.

  • Please let us know via email that you are searching for a new therapist. You will be given two weeks to send us the information for your new practitioner. We will need all of your new therapist’s information to send out the necessary documents. If you need support to find a new therapist, please email us at mhf@nqttcn.com or check out our directory.