A new year is bringing promise of significant advancements in behavioral health services. Research continues to mine the potential of innovative treatments, while many providers are accelerating their preparations to excel in value-based contracting arrangements with payers. All of this raises hope for major improvement in patient outcomes across the field.
In the face of historically slow progress in advancing novel medication treatments for substance use disorders (SUDs), new directions in research are suddenly producing results worth watching. Expect new findings in the coming months on the utility of both GLP-1 drugs and psychedelics in SUD treatment.
The research and practice communities eagerly await trials of GLP-1s for patients with higher-severity alcohol use disorder. With GLP-1s targeting the central nervous system’s drivers of addiction, some experts project they could also be found useful for process addictions such as pathological gambling.
In behavioral health management, treatment centers are making significant progress in improving transparency, both in the services they deliver and the payment systems that support them. Following the success of its comprehensive patient outcome tracking through its Foundation for Recovery Science and Education (FoRSE), the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) in 2025 released national insurance rate benchmark data. This initiative is seen as helping providers greatly in their contract and reimbursement planning. State-specific data from NAATP will follow this year.
One of the biggest shifts that should continue to build momentum in the new year is the move to a population health approach in behavioral health. Writing in the newsletter Mental Health Weekly‘s first issue of 2026, American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., stated that the hallmarks of this emerging approach include a sharp focus on prevention/early intervention, as well as an expansion of the behavioral health workforce to include more peers and other workers at the front lines of the community.
Evans wrote in the newsletter, “Technology is accelerating this shift. Artificial intelligence and digital tools are reshaping how and where mental health support occurs. Wearables, passive monitoring and digital platforms do not replace clinical care, but they create new opportunities for early interevention, ongoing support and reach at scale.”
Evans emphasized that it will be important to integrate the various efforts that are advancing the population health model, to ensure accessible care for those who have struggled to navigate the system in the past. We wholheartedly agree, and we strive to continue to be a voice for coordinated, person-centered care.
None of these promising developments diminish the seriousness of the many challenges ahead for the field. The quest for true parity in insurance coverage continues to face an uncertain path, with implementing regulations still in legal and regulatory limbo. And as dramatic as policy and legislative action out of Washington proved to be in 2025, decisions at the state level are likely to share the spotlight this year. How state legislators address the implications of 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill will clarify what’s in store for substance use and mental health services.
We will continue to use this space to highlight key actions and to profile how innovative providers are adjusting successfully to new realities.