At Headspace, we’re constantly on a journey to evolve and enhance our mental health offerings to improve the member experience and drive better mental health outcomes. Today we’re announcing a variety of new improvements – from expanded language capabilities to a more personalized member experience. Here’s a look at what we are working on in 2024 and beyond:

‍Supporting member needs with tailored care guidance and options

Many people face challenges navigating mental healthcare, whether it's uncertainty about where to start, finding the right type of support, or balancing their personal preferences with clinical recommendations. Without proper guidance, this can lead to delays in getting help, mismatched care, and overall frustration in the care journey.

Members' preferences should play a central role in finding the right provider for them. That’s why we are enhancing our provider matching services to ensure a more personalized experience. Members will soon be able to specify their availability and share their preferences for a provider's gender identity, race/ethnicity, and areas of expertise. Based on these preferences, members will be matched with suitable providers and can browse detailed bios to select the one that best meets their needs – ensuring an empowering and customized care journey.

In addition to enhanced matching, Headspace will be launching personalized care recommendations based on assessment scores from clinically validated tools like PHQ-9, GAD-7, and PSS assessments. Depending on a member's needs, they will receive tailored recommendations for clinical services, skill-building resources, coaching, or a combination of these. Headspace's assessments and personalized intelligent routing system minimize question fatigue and drop-off, while gathering essential data to connect members with the most appropriate care. While members are guided with care recommendations, they always retain the autonomy to choose their own path. 

New clinically-informed content: a simple, stigma-free path to building resilience

Many people struggle to manage difficult emotions like anxiety or low mood, and often lack the tools to address these challenges in a healthy, constructive way. In addition, some may be hesitant to start therapy due to stigma, with 1 in 5 people in the United States not seeking professional help due to stigma or not wanting others to know.This apprehension can prevent people from seeking the support they need, leaving them to navigate difficult emotions on their own.

To provide a more approachable entry point, Headspace has launched a 3-week guided program called CBT for Mood and Anxiety designed to help members manage tough emotions using techniques rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness. Co-led by a Headspace mindfulness meditation teacher and a Headspace psychiatrist, this always-on program offers an accessible way to build emotional awareness and resilience in-app from the comfort of home. Members in the program will learn how to understand and identify emotions, use CBT techniques to better manage those emotions, and develop the skills to implement evidence-based techniques over time. 

With a simple, 10-minute exercise each day, this program is designed to fit easily into daily routines. For those unsure about starting with a mental health coach or therapist, the program can be a low-pressure introduction to evidence-based techniques –and a stepping stone toward clinical support if needed.

This is our third guided program, after our Finding Your Best Sleep Program and Managing Stress Program. Our Finding Your Best Sleep Program is rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTi) while our Managing Stress Program leverages mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) techniques. All three programs help us to bridge the gap between clinical care and self-guided content. We conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for every guided program to test their impact. In the stress program RCT, we found that use of the program resulted in improvements in stress and sleep. The sleep program findings will be available soon, and we also recently launched an RCT for the CBT program. We plan to expand to other topic areas, such as supporting members with substance use disorders, in the coming months.

More options, better outcomes with video coaching

Offering flexibility and choice is essential in empowering members to take control of their mental health. When members have more options, they’re more likely to engage – and when they engage, they see better outcomes. For example, some people may prefer the personal connection of video calls, while others value the convenience of text-based communication. To meet these diverse preferences, we are piloting video coaching to provide more ways for members to access the support they need.

Starting this fall, members in our pilot program can participate in regular video coaching sessions, beginning with an initial intake. Between video sessions, they’ll still have the flexibility to schedule or drop in for chat-based coaching. This additional modality not only provides more choice but also strengthens the coach-member relationship, ultimately driving better outcomes for all participants.

Empower your global community with multilingual support

At Headspace, we're committed to making mental healthcare accessible and equitable for our members all around the world. As part of our ongoing investment in global accessibility and parity, we are ensuring that organizations can deliver a truly comprehensive EAP experience to employees across the globe. This year, we are offering more services in the following languages: Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Malay, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish. 

We’re also focused on expanding our content and coaching services to reach more members. In 2024, we introduced coaching services in four additional countries—Peru, El Salvador, Uruguay, and Romania—and will continue to expand into more countries and languages in 2025. 

Mandarin is one of our most requested languages from employees across the globe. We are thrilled to offer mindfulness, meditation, and sleep exercises in Mandarin in early 2025. With these science-backed resources in their pockets, members unlock an entire world of self-care and support.‍

‍Learn more

‍
As we evolve and expand our services, we're dedicated to providing comprehensive, tailored mental health solutions for your team. Contact us to learn more about how Headspace can offer specialized care that meets the unique needs of your organization.

‍

Johnson Lieu is the SVP of Product Management at Headspace, overseeing development and evolution of our Member Experience, Care and B2B Platforms. He's a seasoned product leader with a passion for building products that meaningfully improve the lives of people at scale. He has over 15 years of experience developing products in wellness & healthcare, entertainment, D2C, and B2B businesses.