Work stress is pushing employees into therapy and hurting the bottom line

New research from Modern Health found that employees are increasingly seeking therapy to address everyday work stresses. When they do this, employers are left financing a level of care some employees may not need. Rather, they could address workplace challenges directly with managers.

Source: HR Executive, September 30, 2026. Link. When every kind of stress leads to the same door, people end up in clinical care for challenges that were never clinical, and often stay there long after it makes sense.

When therapy is the only support people know how to ask for, it’s not surprising that the solution to everyday stress starts getting described in clinical terms.”