Expanding Access

Mental health support is most effective when people can reach it before their hardest moments. In this episode, Jana French, Public Sector Partnerships Director at Crisis Text Line, talks about how text-based support can make crisis care more accessible. She explains that people can text 741741 or 988 for more than…

Finding the right behavioral health provider can be surprisingly difficult, even with hundreds of thousands of practitioners across the country. In this episode, Jaffer Traish, Chief Operating Officer at findhelp, talks about the challenges of making behavioral health services easier to find and navigate. He explains…

Managers are often the first people to notice when something is off with an employee. But do they have the tools to know what to do next? In this episode, Brad Swingruber, CEO at meQuilibrium (meQ), talks about how managers can play a bigger role in connecting employees with mental health support. He explains why…

AI is transforming healthcare, but in behavioral health, how do we make sure technology doesn't come at the expense of human connection? In this episode, Rebecca Ragland, Clinical Global Account Executive at Multi-Health Systems, explores how scientifically validated assessments and emerging technologies can improve…

Burnout often does not happen all at once. For many leaders, it starts with small moments of drift away from their vision, voice, values, and vitality. In this episode, Kristi Huber, Founder of Perspective Shift Consulting, discusses how leaders can recognize and prevent leadership drift before it leads to burnout…

Navigating SSI and SSDI benefits is often overwhelming, time-consuming, and difficult to manage, especially for individuals already dealing with health, financial, and life challenges. In this episode, Lauren Fusco, Director of Partnerships at Mindset Care, shares how Mindset Care is addressing these barriers with…

Unified enterprise systems are no longer back-office upgrades in behavioral health. They are essential infrastructure for access, workforce stability, and financial resilience. In this episode, Tasneem Sanwarwalla, Director, Healthcare Presales at Workday, explains why behavioral health organizations need a unified…

Getting mental health care is not only about having enough clinicians. It is also about having systems that help people get in the door, get treated, and stay on track without delays. In this episode, Dominik Middelmann, co-founder and CEO of mdhub, discusses how everyday operational issues can slow access to…

Compliance works better when documentation supports care in real time instead of becoming a burden after the fact. In this episode, Paige Dustmann and Derek Staub discuss how fraud, waste, and abuse pressures are reshaping behavioral health compliance for providers, payers, and managed care organizations. Paige…

Recovery outcomes improve when support is continuous, trust-based, and built around human connection rather than episodic treatment alone. In this episode, Chris Thompson, founder and CEO of Sober Sidekick, shares how his personal experience with addiction inspired him to build a platform focused on reducing isolation…

What if the biggest barrier to better behavioral health outcomes isn’t access to data, but how carefully we protect it? In this episode, Helen Oscislawski, a healthcare data privacy and interoperability attorney, explains that behavioral health and substance use data require stricter privacy protections due to their…

Behavioral addictions like gambling are real behavioral health conditions, not character flaws, and they can hide in plain sight. In this episode, Davina Mena, Tribal Liaison for the Arizona Division of Problem Gambling, explains how behavioral addictions work and why gambling is often misunderstood, including how it…

Stability and early mental health care are the biggest levers for improving outcomes for kids impacted by foster care. In this episode, Michelle Turner, founder and CEO of Here Now Health, shares how her experience as a foster parent revealed critical gaps in mental healthcare access for children and young adults in…

Patient-centered design is not a nice-to-have in healthcare. It is the key to access, trust, and better outcomes. In this episode, Dr. Justin Coffey, Chief Medical officer at WorkIt Health, discusses how designing treatment around lived experience can transform substance use care. He explains the philosophy of…

Virtual reality can remove the biggest barriers to evidence-based mental health treatment by making exposure therapy affordable, scalable, and accessible anywhere. In this episode, Adam Hutchinson, founder of oVRcome, discusses how lived experience with social anxiety and a background in technology led him to build a…

Peer support is becoming a core part of behavioral health, not just an add-on. In this episode, Shrenik Jain, founder and CEO of Marigold Health, and Robert McAlonan, Director of Behavioral Health at VNS Health, discuss how expanding the role of peer support can bridge the engagement gap in behavioral health. They…

High-quality behavioral healthcare scales only when outcomes, engagement, and coordination are designed into the system from day one. In this episode, Colleen Marshall, Chief Clinical Officer at Two Chairs, discusses how integrating therapy and psychiatry under one roof improves outcomes, reduces drop-off, and removes…

Objective data is becoming essential to building trust, reducing bias, and personalizing ADHD care at scale. In this episode, Danielle Vaeth, Head of Strategic Development and Enterprise Sales at Qbtech, discusses how technology is reshaping the assessment and management of ADHD through objective measurement and…

The Clubhouse model is proving that community and purpose can transform lives for people with serious mental illness. In this episode, Josh Seidman, Chief External Impact Officer for Fountain House, explores how the organization pioneered the Clubhouse model, a psychosocial rehabilitation approach built on community…

Self-injury is not about seeking attention. It’s often a desperate attempt to survive. In this episode, Amanda Beausoleil, founder of Self Injury Recovery and Awareness (SIRA), shares her personal journey with non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and her mission to build a global support network for those affected. She…

Lasting change is built from clear-eyed ownership, timely support, and the courage to start again. In this episode, Josh Golomb and Ruben Vega, share how two cousins from the same close-knit Mexican-American family followed very different paths before finding purpose through healing and service. Josh reflects on the…

Addressing the psychological side of workplace injuries can reduce recovery time by up to 70%, transforming outcomes for both workers and employers. In this episode, Joe Holtschlag, CEO of Ascellus Behavioral Health, and Liam Donohue, Founder and Managing Partner at .406 Ventures, explore how mental healthcare is…

Live, facilitated groups that confront loneliness head-on are a powerful and scalable lever for real behavior change. In this episode, co-founders of Keep Company, Adrienne Prentice (CEO) and Claudia Naim-Burt (COO), share how synchronous, human-to-human groups outperform message boards and self-guided programs by…

The next decade of mental health innovation won’t be defined by who builds the best product, but by who anticipates the policy pathways that bring it to scale. In this episode, Kacie Kelly, Chief Innovation Officer at Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, explores how behavioral health startups can bridge the gap…