Why is it called 'National' if only one state recognizes it?

The founder gave it a national name as a goal and still campaigns for other states and federal recognition. So far, Wisconsin is the only government to proclaim it officially.

Is it the same as Mental Health Awareness Month?

No. It falls within May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US, but it is a separate, single-day observance with its own founder and date.

National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day

Next celebratedWednesday, May 12, 2027

A United States appreciation observance on May 12 recognizing the people who provide and support mental health care.

See how to celebrate

Countdown to the day

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Last updated February 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEMay 12

OBSERVED INUnited States

CATEGORYCareers

SUBCATEGORYHealthcare

ORIGIN

Individual Initiative

FOUNDING ENTITY

Anne C. Totero

FIRST OBSERVED

2020

“A Wisconsin therapist, Anne C. Totero, launched the day in 2020; Wisconsin proclaimed it two years later.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A therapist's idea that one state made official.

Anne C. Totero, a Wisconsin marriage and family therapist, created the day in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to recognize the people who support mental health recovery. After about two years of advocacy, Wisconsin issued the first official state proclamation in 2022.

View Original Recordvia Anne C. Totero

INTRO

A 'National' day that no nation has signed

National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day carries a coast-to-coast name. Yet no federal or national government has ever proclaimed it. Its only official recognition comes from one US state.

Behind the ambitious title is a single person. Anne C. Totero, a Wisconsin marriage and family therapist, is the founder, and she has spent years pressing other states and the federal government to recognize the day too.

She is blunt about the point of it. "We don't NEED a thank you, AND sometimes it is nice to feel seen," she writes. The day asks the public to notice the people who spend their working lives tending to everyone else's mental health.

ORIGINS

Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day history

INTRODUCTION

Many professions that carry people through their hardest days hold a place on the calendar. The workers who deliver mental-health care, for a long time, did not.

The timing of the fix was not incidental. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic upended daily life, and the people paid to help others cope were living through the same upheaval.

CHAPTER 01

An idea from inside the field

That spring, Anne C. Totero decided the people who deliver mental-health care deserved a day of their own. A marriage and family therapist in Wisconsin, she chose May 12 and held the first observance in 2020. It carried no official standing, just a date and a reason to mark it.

CHAPTER 02

Wisconsin signs on

Winning a government's backing took roughly two years. Totero pitched local news outlets, lobbied advocacy groups and national associations, and pressed Wisconsin officials to put the day in writing. The persistence paid off in 2022, when Gov. Tony Evers issued the state's first proclamation of Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day.

The recognition held, and it grew more formal. Evers proclaimed May 12, 2024, signing the order in Madison on April 22, with Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski countersigning. The document did not hedge, praising the state's providers as "champions of wellness, defenders of privacy, and advocates for hope."

It was not a one-time gesture. Wisconsin proclaimed the day again for May 12, 2026, signed on May 8 that year. The state's recognition has settled into an annual fixture.

The signatures matter beyond ceremony. Each proclamation converts a grassroots gesture into a documented, recurring act of state recognition. For a young observance with no institution behind it, that paper trail is what turns a good idea into a tradition.

TIMELINE

Timeline

The first, unofficial observance

Anne C. Totero marked the first Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day on May 12, 2020, with no official recognition behind it.

Wisconsin proclaims the day

After about two years of advocacy, Gov. Tony Evers issued Wisconsin's first state proclamation of the observance.

A signed state proclamation

Evers proclaimed May 12, 2024, signing the order in Madison on April 22 with the secretary of state countersigning.

A national provider shortage

About 137.1 million Americans lived in a federally designated mental-health shortage area, where roughly 27.3% of provider need was met.

Recognition recurs

Wisconsin again proclaimed May 12, 2026, signed on May 8, showing the state's recognition returns each year.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day Matters

STRAIN

More than half of psychologists have no room for a new patient.

The people this day recognizes are stretched thin. In the American Psychological Association's 2024 survey, 53% of psychologists reported no openings for a single new patient.

ACCESS

The workforce is the ceiling on who gets help

Mental-health treatment usually needs a trained person, not a product you can pick up at a pharmacy. That makes the size of this workforce the hard limit on how many people can actually get care.

MORALE

It reaches a workforce whose work stays private

Mental-health care happens behind closed doors, and confidentiality keeps most of it out of public view. A day set aside to thank providers is a rare public nod to work the rest of us never watch happen.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day by the Numbers

59.3M: US adults with any mental illness, 2022
204,300: US psychologist jobs in 2024
17%: Projected US counselor job growth by 2034
48,300: US counselor job openings per year

MYTH VS FACT

Common Misconceptions

The myth

It is a federally or nationally recognized holiday.

The truth

Despite the word 'National' in its name, its only government recognition is at the US state level. Wisconsin has proclaimed it, but there is no federal or national proclamation.

The myth

It honors only therapists.

The truth

It was created for the whole mental-health workforce, from crisis-line staff and peer support specialists to the administrative workers who keep clinics running.

The myth

It is just another name for International Nurses Day.

The truth

The two fall on May 12 by coincidence. International Nurses Day marks Florence Nightingale's 1820 birth and honors nurses, while this day recognizes mental-health providers.

GET INVOLVED

How to Observe National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day

Thank someone on your care team

Send a note to a therapist, counselor, or anyone on your mental-health care team who has helped you or someone you love. A specific, direct message lands harder than a generic thank-you.

RECOGNIZE

Recognize a provider publicly online

Post appreciation for a mental-health worker on May 12, when providers across the US mark the day online. Naming what they do well makes the recognition concrete.

READ

Read the story behind the day

Spend a few minutes with the founder's own account of why the day exists. It explains who the observance is meant to reach.

SUPPORT

Support a mental-health organization

Give time or money to a group that trains, staffs, or advocates for the mental-health workforce. Even a small contribution helps a stretched system.

ADVOCATE

Advocate for wider recognition

Ask your state officials to recognize the day, as its founder continues to do beyond Wisconsin. Local proclamations often begin with a single constituent's request.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Mental Health Provider?

1 / 8

Who created Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance, not a federal or public holiday, so schools, banks, and offices stay open and it is a normal working day.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

9sources

7primary records

7independently dated

Primary records

Anne C. Totero

Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day

The founder's own account of creating the day in 2020 and pushing to widen it.

View source

Office of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers2024

Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day Proclamation (2024)

Wisconsin's signed proclamation of May 12, 2024, praising the state's mental-health providers.

View source

Office of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers2026

Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day Proclamation (2026)

Wisconsin's proclamation of May 12, 2026, signed May 8 that year.

View source

National Institute of Mental Health2022

Mental Illness (statistics)

US prevalence and treatment rates for any and serious mental illness, 2022 data.

View source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2024

Occupational Outlook Handbook: Psychologists

US psychologist employment, pay, and projected job growth through 2034.

View source

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics2024

Occupational Outlook Handbook: Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors

Projected growth and annual openings for US mental-health counselors through 2034.

View source

American Psychological Association2024

2024 Practitioner Pulse Survey

2024 survey finding most psychologists had no new-patient openings and many reported burnout.

View source

Additional coverage

KFF2025

Mental Health Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)

US mental-health provider shortage-area totals as of December 31, 2025, from HRSA data.

View source

Encyclopaedia Britannica

International Nurses Day

The May 12 observance marking Florence Nightingale's 1820 birth, set in 1974.

View source

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