Psychotherapy Action Network

Amplify the Silence: The Power of Advocacy in Mental Health Mental health access isn't just a clinical issue—it's a societal one. As therapists and allies, advocacy extends our work beyond the therapy room. It means actively working to ensure everyone can access quality care, regardless of systemic barriers. Why is advocacy critical now? Addressing systemic barriers: When policies restrict funding, limit coverage, or create deserts of care, they compound individual suffering. Advocacy addresses the structural side of mental health. Ensuring access and equity: We must speak up against policies that create barriers. Advocating for thoughtful, human-centered policy is essential to closing the mental health gap. Advocacy isn't partisan—it's caring for collective wellbeing. Join PsiAN today to help build a more just and supportive mental health landscape.

What do people want from therapy? According to PsiAN's research with more than 1,500 Americans, 90 percent said they wanted care that goes to the root, not just relief from symptoms. That preference has not changed. What has changed is the landscape around it.

PsiAN co-founder Linda Michaels, PsyD, MBA, sat down with Mad in America this month for a wide-ranging conversation about what is really happening to psychotherapy in the United States. She covers the corporate forces reshaping the field, what the evidence actually says about depth and relationship therapies, the lawsuit PsiAN faced for raising concerns about a major therapy platform, and a new public campaign to connect people with affordable care.

Listen here: https://vist.ly/42fu4

New PsiAN research is here. Earlier this year, we surveyed 667 mental health professionals about their views on practice management companies—services that support therapists with insurance credentialing, billing, and administration. We learned a great deal from participants and are excited to share our findings. Key topics of concern: privacy, transparency of investors, reimbursement rates and pay, ethics, and overall satisfaction with services offered. We're grateful to the 667 clinicians who shared their invaluable perspectives. We hope this research serves as a starting point for improvements that make this field sustainable for therapists and, as a result, improve access to quality mental healthcare for everyone who needs it. Read the summary and full analysis at the link. https://vist.ly/42aig

Self-pay therapy is a difficult decision for both clinicians and patients. For clinicians, it's a weighing of reach versus the ability to practice responsibly: protect privacy, set session length and frequency based on need, maintain continuity, and prevent treatment from being shaped by insurer rules. Therapists choose self-pay to protect patients from profit-focused insurers: fewer administrative hurdles, sustainable rates that allow time for extra patient support, less pressure to diagnose for payment purposes, and reduced data sharing. If you're a patient, you may still be able to make self-pay work. During open enrollment, check your out-of-network benefits, deductibles, and HSA/FSA options. Ask potential therapists about sliding scale fees and superbills. Plan ahead with your therapist to estimate frequency and duration, so you can budget accurately.

Psychotherapy Action Network runs because people show up.

This year, we are taking a moment to recognize our Communications Team and our Policy Team, the volunteers who write, advocate, monitor policy, and keep our mission visible every single week.

We are grateful for every one of them. Read their stories in our 2026 Volunteer Appreciation Newsletter, and if you have ever thought about volunteering with PsiAN, the door is open.

View 2026 Volunteer Appreciation: https://vist.ly/4zure

Think about a client who needed help but never made it through the door.
What stopped them probably wasn't that they didn't want help.

It was something in the experience of trying to find it.

Your digital presence, your messaging, your intake process — these aren't just "business decisions." They're clinical ones. And they affect who gets access to care.

Come learn what the research and APA ethics say about all of it.

Join us for 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 and learn how to grow your practice in a way that fits you.

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀: 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲

Presenters will discuss:

• Ethical, legal, and professional issues related to therapists’ digital presence.
• Informed consent, multiple relationships, client vulnerability in online spaces, public education versus solicitation.
• Confidentiality risks, telepsychology boundaries, and access to care disparities.

May 7, 2026 | 11am-12:30pm Central

1.5 CE credits available (sponsored by The Institute for Clinical Social Work)

Live via Zoom

Featuring
• Miranda Palmer
• Kelly Higdon

Learn more and register: https://vist.ly/4zsub

PsiAN Chair and Co-Founder Linda Michaels has just been published in TAP, The American Psychoanalyst, and we could not be more proud.

Her article, "Holding the Frame in an Era of Corporate Care," addresses something that affects everyone who has ever been in therapy, is considering therapy, or provides it: the growing corporate takeover of the systems that surround psychotherapy.

Companies like Headway, Alma, and Grow Therapy promise to simplify practice management for therapists. What many clinicians and patients do not realize is what comes with that promise: data privacy concerns, disrupted continuity of care, eroded clinical autonomy, and financial structures that are rarely transparent until after therapists sign on.

This article makes the case, backed by PsiAN's research with nearly 700 mental health professionals, that protecting the conditions of therapy is not a bureaucratic issue. It is a clinical and human one.

Read it. Share it.

Read the full article → https://vist.ly/4zpdt

Insurance in mental health: the good, the bad, and the ugly. The good: Coverage can increase access to care for people who otherwise couldn't afford it. The bad: Low reimbursement rates, prior authorization requirements that drain clinical time, ghost networks listing unavailable providers, and frequent claim denials. The ugly: Insurers effectively dictate patient care—shorter sessions, capped frequency, pressure to assign diagnoses for billing purposes rather than clinical accuracy. Treatments get interrupted or delayed. Documentation requirements consume hours. Clinical judgment gets sidelined by utilization rules. Companies intentionally make themselves difficult to work with, hoping providers give up on collecting payment. PsiAN wants to make these profit-driven problems more visible. Use our Insurance Issue Tracker to log denials, delays, clawbacks, and credentialing issues. We're building collective power against these practices. https://vist.ly/4zdm2

When a therapist chooses to stop accepting insurance, it's rarely a casual decision. It's often an act of self-preservation and a commitment to better client care. The reality: Undervalued work: Reimbursement rates often aren't sustainable, forcing therapists to see more patients than is clinically ideal just to make ends meet. Invasive control: Insurance companies demand detailed private data and can interfere with treatment decisions. The fight: Days spent on hold, appealing rejected claims, battling confusing systems that prioritize profit over patient wellbeing. Going self-pay means a therapist can invest time in advanced training, consultation, and providing focused care—rather than fighting bureaucratic systems. Check out PsiAN's insurance tracker and share your insurance-related experiences. https://vist.ly/4z4fp

If you’re a therapist who…

– Is great clinically but unsure how to talk about your work
– Feels invisible online
– Gets inconsistent referrals
– Is tired of “post more on Instagram” as marketing advice

This webinar is for you.

We’re teaching practical, ethical, sustainable marketing strategies designed specifically for mental health professionals.

You’ll walk away with clarity, not overwhelm — and at least one concrete step you can implement immediately.

Your marketing should support your clinical work — not drain you.

If you’re ready for:
-Clarity
-Consistency
-Referrals that fit
-And messaging that feels like you

Join us for 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀.

Let’s make this simpler.

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀: 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗣𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲

Presenters will discuss:
• Ethical, legal, and professional issues related to therapists’ digital presence.
• Informed consent, multiple relationships, client vulnerability in online spaces, public education versus solicitation.
• Confidentiality risks, telepsychology boundaries, and access to care disparities.

May 7, 2026 | 11am-12:30pm Central

1.5 CE credits available (sponsored by The Institute for Clinical Social Work)

Live via Zoom

Featuring
- Miranda Palmer
- Kelly Higdon

Learn more and register: https://vist.ly/4yxi4