#82: The Innovations That Actually Improve Psychotherapy Outcomes

Hi friend,

2026 will be the year of outcomes. Mental health businesses will be increasingly asked for evidence on client outcomes and ROI. Those who can prove superior outcomes and returns will win share. While this sounds obvious, it has not always been the way. Giving payers access to large provider networks was often more important.

But if leaders want to improve outcomes, what do they do?

In psychotherapy, we have seen dozens of innovations in recent decades. Which ones work and should be adopted? Which should be ignored? And which do we need more evidence on before we make a call?

Importantly, what impact will the answers to these questions have on mental health businesses and the state of the market?

A wonderful new paper from Pim Cuijpers and colleagues provides direction.¹ The paper delivers a comprehensive review of all innovations in psychotherapy for mental disorders. From therapist matching, to single-session interventions, to task-sharing, chatbots and new psychoherapeutic modalities. The paper tells us which innovations work, which don’t and which, well, we just don’t know yet.

In today’s THR Pro article, I share the main findings from this paper, presenting what actually works to improve outcomes and, importantly, the implications of that for mental health businesses. If you want to improve psychotherapy outcomes and understand how that may shape the mental health market, read on.

Alright, let’s get into it!

This article is for THR Pro members only