CONTACT
John Reilly, EVP Government Relations/Chief Legal Officer
john.reilly@talkspace.com
Talkspace, a leading virtual therapy provider, was selected to power NYC Teenspace, one of the country’s largest citywide teen mental health initiatives to-date. NYC Teenspace is a three (3) year program sponsored by Mayor Eric Adams through the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and will bring free therapy and self-guided mental health resources to any and all New York City teens, ages 13-17. Starting November 15th, approximately 400,000 to 500,000 teens will have immediate access to evidenced-based mental health services. The engagement is a $24,000,000 current commitment through a pilot contract previously disclosed by NYC-DOH through a $26,000,000, three year demonstration bid process.
This program is especially timely as the CDC reports escalating rates of suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety amongst U.S. youth. Through NYC Teenspace, eligible teens will be self-guided through an introduction to therapy and given mental health assessment tools and, when they are ready, encouraged to match with a dedicated, licensed therapist through Talkspace’s secure, private platform where they can send their therapists an unlimited number of private messages and have access to live, real-time virtual sessions–all from their smartphones, tablets, or computers, at no cost.
To be eligible for the program, teens must live in a New York City zip code and be aged 13-17 at time of signup. Program registrants can sign up for unlimited messaging therapy or a combination of unlimited messaging and live video sessions, which is scheduled by the teen. The efficacy of Talkspace’s asynchronous, message-based therapy has been validated by 20+ published studies.
For more information on the program including registration and parental consent, visit www.talkspace.com/nyc.
About Talkspace
Talkspace (Nasdaq: TALK) is a leading virtual behavioral healthcare company committed to helping people lead healthier, happier lives through access to high-quality mental healthcare. At Talkspace, we believe that mental healthcare is core to overall healthcare and should be available to everyone.
Talkspace pioneered the ability to text with a licensed therapist from anywhere and now offers a comprehensive suite of mental health services from self-guided products to individual and couples therapy, in addition to psychiatric treatment and medication management. With Talkspace’s core psychotherapy offering, members are matched with one of thousands of licensed providers across all 50 states and can choose from a variety of subscription plans including live video, text or audio chat sessions and/or asynchronous text messaging.
All care offered at Talkspace is delivered through an easy-to-use, fully-encrypted web and mobile platform that meets HIPAA, federal, and state regulatory requirements. Talkspace covers approximately 113 million lives as of September 30, 2023, through our partnerships with employers, health plans, and paid benefits programs.
For more information, visit www.talkspace.com.