The birth of a child can be one of life’s most miraculous, joy-filled events. For many new mothers, however, the time around giving birth can be less than positive. In fact, each year one in five pregnant women experience mental health or substance use disorders during pregnancy or in the postpartum period.…

Maine launches new youth mental health initiative MaineHealth is launching a statewide youth mental health initiative in January aimed at improving early intervention and access to care for children and adolescents. The program will provide a range of services, including screening, counseling, and connection to mental health resources for young people and their families.…

As AI chat tools move deeper into mental health care, psychologists are weighing the promise of round-the-clock support against concerns about safety, bias, and the limits of algorithmic empathy. Lyra Health, a provider of mental health solutions, is piloting AI chat functions to customers experiencing mild and moderate challenges like burnout, sleep, and stress.…

When Maine voters approved a red flag gun law this fall, the change marked more than a shift in firearms policy. For mental health professionals, it signals a move away from a framework that explicitly tied firearm removal to psychiatric evaluation and toward one focused solely on dangerousness. Under Maine’s former “yellow flag” law, law enforcement was required to take an individual into protective custody and secure a mental health evaluation before a judge could order firearms removed.…

For the first time since the 1950s, more states increased their state psychiatric hospital capacity in 2025 by reopening beds in existing hospitals or building new facilities to deal with bed shortages. In 2002, 50 percent of the 48 states surveyed reported a shortage of psychiatric beds, a number that leapt to 90 percent this year.…

Lawsuits accuse insurance companies of providing false information about therapists and doctors.

For the first time since the 1950s, more states increased their state psychiatric hospital capacity in 2025 by reopening beds in existing hospitals or building new facilities to deal with bed shortages. In 2002, 50 percent of the 48 states surveyed reported a shortage of psychiatric beds, a number that leapt to 90 percent this year.…

A study reveals our brain development changes at ages 9, 32, 66 and 83.

What if the most powerful medicine wasn’t a pill, but a team grounded in compassion? Healthcare today is complex. No single clinician can meet every need of a patient navigating […] The post The Best Medicine: Patient-Centered Collaboration Grounded in Caritas® appeared first on SPM Blog.

The prevalence of mental health concerns among U.S. adults has not changed significantly from 2021-2022, with 23.4% or 60 million people reporting a mental illness. Concerns among youth ages 12 to 17 has decreased with major depressive disorder going from 18.10% to 15.40% and serious thoughts of suicide falling from 12.30% to 10.10%.…

The US Tax Code is more than 6,500 pages long. So, it’s not surprising that therapists flock to webinars like one hosted recently by the American Psychological Association in cooperation with Heard, an online accounting platform for psychologists. The topic was key tax preparation information for therapists. These talks are so popular, in fact, that Heard runs more than 60 of them a year for various organizations.…

Traditional business professionals have long acknowledged that it is not what you know but who you know that helps you get ahead. What if we take this business mindset and adjust it for a more supportive application for the field of psychotherapy? While you often work independently with clients, you do not need to feel alone in your practice.…

On the morning of October 1, 2025, hundreds of thousands of federal employees woke up unsure if they would see a paycheck or if their jobs would continue to exist. The longest government shutdown in U.S. history lasted 43 days, furloughing roughly 670,000 workers and forcing another 730,000 to keep working without pay, according to The New York Times.…

Griffin Hospital launches mental health ER alternative Griffin Hospital in Derby, Connecticut, has opened a specialized emergency unit for individuals experiencing psychiatric crises, including severe depression, psychosis, or suicidal thoughts. Known as the EmPATH (Emergency Psychiatric Assessment, Treatment & Healing) unit, it features open spaces, natural lighting, family areas, and sensory rooms where patients can control lighting and sound.…

In September, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced updated telehealth code sets to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) manual. The 288 additions, along with 84 deletions and 46 revisions, target medical, surgical, and diagnostic services effective January 1, 2026. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), whose advocacy work with the AMA helped incorporate some of these new services, the additions for behavioral health will include group psychotherapy, group caregiver behavior management/modification training, developmental testing services, psychological and neuropsychological testing evaluation services, and psychological and neuropsychological test administration and scoring services.…

The trouble with angels is that they are always with us but hard to know. Now as the Christmas season approaches, angels come to life in the carols that tell of their appearance to shepherds to announce the birth of Christ. They begin by telling the shepherds not to be afraid.…

Action detailed in a state department memo directs officials to deny visas to any applicant engaging in ‘censorship’