Mental Health PlaybookOpen Therapy Institute
- Geographic Focus: National
- Mission: To address sociopolitical bias in mental healthcare.
- Operating Budget: $1,000,000
- People Served: Therapists and patients
- Focus Areas and Core Competencies:
- Scholarly Research and Publishing
- Professional Network and Continuing Education
- National Clinical Referral System
- Thought Leadership and Public Engagement
Impact Statement
Since 2024, Open Therapy Institute (OTI) has connected over 850 patients with a national network of over 350 vetted professionals who prioritize clinical integrity over ideological signaling. OTI has equipped clinicians through 26 accredited workshops, weekly peer consultation groups and other events like a speaking series, webinars, in-person gatherings and an online course. Our first annual conference is scheduled for October 2026.
In 2025, OTI launched the first peer-reviewed mental health journal on Substack, garnering over 90,000 views, while also establishing a column at Psychology Today and launching the “Open Therapy” podcast with Rob Henderson and Meghan Daum. OTI’s thought leadership has been featured in over 60 outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, the Free Press and Dr. Phil.
A conversation with Andrew Hartz, founder and president of the Open Therapy Institute
Q: What is the mission of your organization? What specific areas related to mental health challenges are you working to solve?
The Open Therapy Institute addresses a growing and largely unspoken problem in mental healthcare: sociopolitical bias. Every year, countless patients experience poor care due to therapist biases, from political comments in sessions, values misalignments or even overt activism. As a result, many patients accept subpar care, struggle for years to find a trusted therapist or forego treatment entirely.
Every day, OTI is contacted by patients who struggle to find therapists who respect their values and perspectives. Some report overt hostility from therapists, including ending treatment over political disagreements. Others describe self-censoring during sessions for fear of conflict, spending months educating their therapist on issues important to them or feeling unsupported because their therapists lack knowledge or training in areas relevant to their lives, such as faith, masculinity or broader cultural challenges.
OTI is also contacted regularly by therapists who feel isolated as the field becomes more politicized. Some are graduate students struggling through aggressively ideological programs. Others are seasoned professionals concerned about the radical changes they’ve witnessed.
These biases have led countless populations to be overlooked: people dealing with false accusations of misconduct, people experiencing ideologically driven job discrimination or people affected by cancel culture on college campuses or in the workplace. It also includes people who are antagonized for being in a “privileged” group, and those whose religious faith or political views are treated as pathology instead of a valuable part of their lives.
Through scholarship, professional training and a national clinical referral network, we’re building a community of skilled therapists who can treat these underserved populations. This improves countless lives, restores trust in the profession and creates systemic change that ripples throughout the larger culture.
Q: How do you describe the big goals your organization is working to achieve? How do you measure impact?
OTI envisions a profession where every patient can access compassionate, high-quality treatment, regardless of values, faith or political beliefs. Having established a strong infrastructure over our first two years, OTI is now positioned for nationwide impact. By the end of 2027, we aim to double membership to over 1,000, annually refer 2,000 patients and expand on our thought leadership and research to improve care for countless patients across the country. This is a pivotal time for OTI as we look to grow into a large national professional organization, analogous to others that have emerged to confront bias in higher education, medicine and law.
We measure impact across four strategic pillars:
Scholarly Research and Publishing: We publish peer-reviewed research on clinical issues that have been neglected because of sociopolitical bias. Our journal, Open Inquiry in Mental Health, has garnered 90,000-plus views—far above the typical readership for academic articles. We’re planning to publish 10-plus articles for our fall 2026 issue, with a goal of 20-plus peer-reviewed articles annually.
Professional Network and Continuing Education: We equip clinicians to work skillfully across ideological differences through accredited workshops, weekly peer consultation groups and monthly speaker series. We’ve tripled membership to 350-plus vetted professionals across 49 states. In 2026, we’re launching our inaugural in-person conference in Washington, D.C., offering 9.25 continuing education credits. By the end of 2027, we aim to double membership again to 1,000-plus.
National Clinical Referral System: We’ve connected 850-plus patients with appropriate care. Our goal is to field 500 to 1,000 therapy inquiries in 2026 and annually refer 2,000-plus patients by 2027.
Thought Leadership and Public Engagement: We amplify OTI’s scholarship to shape public discourse through strategic media engagement, public presentations and accessible content. Our work has been featured in over 60 media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, the Free Press and Dr. Phil. We’ve delivered presentations at Yale, the Heterodox Academy and the Cato Institute. We’ve launched a podcast with Rob Henderson and Megan Daum and established a Psychology Today column that translates peer-reviewed research for general audiences.
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges the organization has experienced working to accomplish its mission? How did your organization overcome those challenges?
Despite impacting millions of people, this is a complex issue that most of the public is unaware of—so raising awareness is a challenge. We’re proud to have earned media in outlets like the New York Post, The New York Times, National Review, The Daily Wire and “The Dr. Drew Podcast”—despite having a limited marketing budget.
Most professionals are afraid to speak up about bias. Nonetheless, we’ve managed to develop a team that includes faculty at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, NYU and other top universities. These courageous scholars are setting an example that makes it easier for others in the field to follow.
Professional organizations that grant accreditation, like the American Psychiatric Association, have substantial political bias, though we were still able to obtain accreditation for physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers and other counselors.
Q: What are the organization’s biggest needs? How can philanthropists help your organization achieve its goals?
Too many patients struggle to find a therapist attuned to their values, and too many professionals feel isolated in the field. We can’t help people who don’t know we exist. There are three ways that philanthropists can strategically invest to accelerate nationwide impact.
First, strategic media campaigns, social media promotion, conference sponsorships and digital outreach amplify OTI’s thought leadership, increase discoverability of our journal and workshops and drive traffic to our national clinical referral network. Enhanced visibility helps us reach patients who need care, professionals seeking an alternative to ideologically captured institutions and stakeholders interested in reforming mental health training and practice.
A second area is scholarly research and publishing. Currently, OTI’s scholars contribute journal articles on a volunteer basis. This will make it harder to attract and retain top scholars who produce innovative and potentially controversial work.
A third area is expanding our capacity to scale and maintain professional standards. Sustaining the quality and consistency of our journal, continuing education workshops and member programming requires dedicated staff—a need met by part-time personnel or volunteers—which limits us. Funding will support skilled staff in shaping journal content, overseeing peer review, drafting Psychology Today essays, coordinating continuing education and facilitating member-led programming such as local chapters and study groups focused on specific overlooked issues.
Q: Beyond the organization, where should philanthropists who care about advancing knowledge related to improving mental health invest their charitable dollars?
Addressing sociopolitical bias is vital for effective mental healthcare. Philanthropists should consider supporting organizations with missions complementary to OTI’s, such as the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine and the Society for Open Inquiry in the Behavioral Sciences. These contributions will ensure mental healthcare training, research and practice serve a broader and more diverse population.
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