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Welcome to The Census, your biweekly roundup of what matters in behavioral health care.

Today, we’re breaking down:

• Trends shaping behavioral health this year

• Your latest news headlines in under two minutes

Let’s dive in.

- Shân

P.S. We’ve all been to bad behavioral health events. Want to make your event decidedly uncrappy? You should probably check out Turn Productions. We went to one of their events and were so impressed that we partnered with them. 🕺

What we’re watching this week:

📈 Four trends set to shape behavioral health in 2025

You know how much we at Nerd HQ The Census love a trend analysis. So here are our top four takeaways from Recovery.com’s first-ever behavioral health trend report, plus some graphs we felt should have been included (Recovery.com, you’re welcome).

Let’s get right to it.

1. The CEOs are not okay

Executives want behavioral health support — and specialized support at that.

Recovery.com saw a 51% increase in users seeking executive treatment options last year, particularly for tailored recovery programs that balance both the ability to work and long-term well-being.

While this hints at just how dire executive’s behavioral health is, it also means the stigma around getting help is slowly being lifted in the corporate world. Finally.

2. Flexible treatment options are in high demand elsewhere, too 

We know we’ve been harping on about this for some time, but look at these search trends: 

This continued shift away from traditional in-patient treatment and toward outpatient and virtual care is driven by cost concerns, accessibility issues, and work-life balance needs.

So providing (damn good) PHPs, IOPs, and virtual options will be even more key going forward.

3. People are very curious about alternative therapies like ketamine and ibogaine 

Okay, this isn’t a surprising trend, but interest in America is rising faster than most think. 

Many legal and regulatory challenges remain, of course. And guidelines released just yesterday urge caution with ketamine use for mental health treatment.

Still, patients clearly want to know more about their alternative therapy options.

4. Demand for peer support shows no signs of slowing

As people move away from in-person therapy, they still want to connect — just on their own terms. 

We love the increased focus on community and the flexibility peer support models offer. Investors do too: Startups in the space attracted $55M+ in 2023/24.

However, there are a few regulation concerns given the blurry line between peer support specialists and behavioral health coaches — who will likely come for a slice of the pie. This is definitely a space to watch, and we’ll keep you updated. 

If you like, you can read Recovery.com’s full trend report here.

Let’s get to your news headlines.

Catch up quick

This week’s top stories

Latest news

🎉 For every $100 invested in behavioral health services, medical costs are reduced by $190 for employers, supporting the expansion of behavioral health access as a cost-saving and overall health-improving strategy. 

💇 A breakthrough autism test that detects risk in babies with 92%+ accuracy using a single strand of hair just got US approval. 

🤔 Autism providers believe there will be ‘more stability in the workforce’ in 2025 (let’s hope they're right).

💊 Vertex executives said the company expects to begin shipping JOURNAVX, their non-opioid painkiller, by the end of this month.

🧡 A new Colorado bill will make it harder for payers to deny coverage for mental health care in a step toward state-level mental health parity.

🌿 Hospital and ER patients diagnosed with cannabis use disorder die at almost three times the rate of those without the disorder.

🏥 Two universities plan to build a $2B children’s hospital in North Carolina, starting with construction in 2027.

👏 A Texas Senate Bill wants to expand Medicaid coverage for school mental health services  — crucial, given that 75% of Texan kids with major depression do not get care. 

⚠️ In California, officials are boosting the safety testing of marijuana.

👀 Three Maine-based IDD nonprofits are merging, citing workforce shortages, rising operational costs, and shrinking reimbursement rates.

👨‍💻 Direct-to-consumer telehealth companies are raising their ad spending as they venture into more complex kinds of care, like mental health.

😞 Only 7 out of 100 people globally get effective treatment for their mental health or substance use disorders, a new study suggests.

Expansions, launches, & partnerships

🖇️ Two clinician-entrepreneurs combined their behavioral health ventures to launch Well Behavioral Health, a company focused on whole-person care.

🤖 Wilma™ launched Unified Communications, the first AI-driven ABA practice management platform.

🤝 Rogers Behavioral Health and Lyra Health partnered to allow Lyra to expand past employer models and Rogers to scale virtual services.

🕯️ Lighthouse Autism Center opened a second ABA location in Lincoln, Nebraska.

🎉 A new Rural Behavioral Health Clinic opened in Mankato.

🏛️ Alter Behavioral Health opened a new residential mental health center in Dana Point.

🏥 Caravel Autism Health opened a new autism therapy clinic for families in northwest Indiana.

Funding rounds & investor moves

🧒 Caraway Health sold to pediatric behavioral health startup Summer Health, giving Summer a new foothold in Gen Z mental health care.

💻 NeuroFlow acquired Quartet Health, a value-based behavioral health care enablement company.

💲 Private equity firm Nautic Partners purchased Proud Moments ABA.

💰 Little Otter landed $9.5M to expand its digital family mental health services nationwide.

💸 Orchard Mental Health Group acquired GBCC Behavioral Health and Oasis Behavioral Health Urgent Care.

🤑 Already Autism Health announced another acquisition, this time of C.A.B.S. Autism and Behavior Specialists.

🤖 Affineon Health secured $5M to address provider burnout with their AI automation of clinician workflows. 

Why are you seeing this ad?

Because we know how tough mental health marketing can be. And we really like putting blue buttons in this email.

If you press the blue button below, you’ll check out the annual Mental Health Marketing conference, where over 500 mental health professionals will gather in October to take their marketing game to the next level.

Studies & opinion pieces

⚠️ The number of Americans in need of SUD treatment has more than doubled in recent years, but the percentage who seek help has declined (study, and graph above).

😷 Whooping cough increases autism risk in baby mice via brain inflammation (study).

🍔 Eating disorders are highly prevalent among medical students, and tailored ED treatment solutions are warranted for this niche (study).

💡 Eating disorder treatment is evolving into a hybrid model, blending telehealth and in-person care for a more tailored approach (study).

That’s it for this week! See you soon,

- Shân

P.S. You can email me here if you want to share any feedback, or let me know about a business I should be featuring.

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