Specialty Outpatient Care for Pediatric Anxiety & OCD

Life-changing treatment for your patients and their families

Our program is designed to help children, teens, young adults, and their families get the care they need to get their lives back on track.

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  • Evidence-based
  • Insurance-backed
  • No waitlist

Building on your care.

Khadijah Booth-Watkins, MD, MPH
Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

Building on your care.

Nearly one-third of youth in the U.S. will struggle with an anxiety disorder by the age of 18. As a healthcare professional, you know that too many of these children are underserved and not getting the care they need.

That’s where InStride steps in. We provide specialty outpatient care for people ages 7-22 across the full range of acuity. As we serve individuals and families, we keep providers like you—pediatricians, specialists, schools and allied behavioral health professionals—in the loop, so we’re aligned in helping these individuals learn to more effectively manage anxiety and OCD and build lifelong resilience.

Evidence-based treatment, grounded in CBT.

Guided by a dedicated, 3-person multi-disciplinary care team that includes a psychiatrist, therapist, and exposure coach, each personalized program can include:

  • Individual therapy sessions (CBT and ACT with an emphasis on exposure therapy)
  • Scheduled and as-needed exposure coaching by text, phone, or video
  • Psychiatry sessions to provide medication management, if indicated
  • Skills practice groups and exposure groups
  • Family therapy sessions and parent/caregiver groups

A uniquely experiential, real-world approach to care.

We support young people where they live, learn and play.

  • Real-world, real-time treatment with exposure therapy out in the community—where it’s needed most
  • Purposely time-bound treatment designed to foster self-sufficiency over 3 phases of care
  • Engagement with families, other providers and schools to ensure the surrounding environment is best equipped to support the child in an ongoing way
  • Measurement-based care (MBC) allowing for data-driven, tailored adjustments to the treatment plan based on an individual’s progress and needs

Are we a fit for your patients?

Learn more about who to refer

The InStride patient experience, from evaluation to graduation.

Sara is 14-year old with fear of vomiting and nausea, dating back to early childhood. Over time, her fear had led to avoidance of certain foods and restaurants and of going to places where she thought people could throw up. She obsessively checked expiration dates on the few foods she ate, and this caused family strife at meal times. As Sara’s fear grew, she began having frequent panic attacks, and she started skipping classes because of this.

Phase 1:

  • Comprehensive clinical evaluation with therapist
  • Treatment plan and exposure hierarchy creation
  • Motivation building exercises with exposure coach (e.g., connecting values to treatment goals)
  • Psychiatry evaluation to determine the role of medication and follow up sessions
  • Coordination with pediatrician and school initiated by care team
  • Class re-entry plan developed and reviewed with school and family
  • In-session exposures with therapist and coach (e.g., going to previously avoided class; looking at pictures of cartoon vomit, etc.)
  • Between-session exposure practice with coach reminders and support
  • Skills group with peers to learn skills to manage anxiety (e.g., responding to thoughts and feelings)
  • Family sessions to address identified family goals (e.g., improving communication and parent skill use)
  • Caregiver group with other parents to learn skills to support their child (e.g., expressing validation and encouraging and reinforcing brave steps)
  • Texting with exposure coach at school during times of high anxiety (e.g., before entering a previously avoided class or trying a new food)

Phase 2:

  • Family sessions to review progress and re-evaluate treatment goals
  • Psychiatry meeting to follow up on medication adjustments
  • Exposure group participation with encouragement from peers after hard exposures (e.g., making fake vomit mixture)
  • In-session exposures in the community with exposure coach (e.g., eating in a cafe; picking out previously avoided foods at grocery store)
  • Texts to and from exposure coach in moments of high anxiety (e.g., before a hard class at school, while riding the wave of panic symptoms) to support effective use of her strategies
  • Caregiver practice group for parents to receive ongoing guidance and support from group leader and other parents

Phase 3:

  • Continued exposure practice with exposure coach with emphasis on their becoming increasingly self-directed
  • Texting exposure coach before and after big exposures (e.g., eating school lunch in cafeteria)
  • Celebration of exposure victories with peers in exposure group and of parenting wins in caregiver group
  • Continued medication monitoring with psychiatrist
  • Planning for continued exposure and skill practice after graduation
  • Graduation celebration

See how each of our treatment phases work in this example patient journey.

  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

The individual depicted is not a real patient. Any resemblance to actual persons is purely coincidental. The example incorporates symptoms commonly reported at InStride Health but is not reflective of any specific patient.

The example activities are illustrative of the treatment at InStride Health but are not comprehensive.

Set their transformation in motion.

Because InStride is insurance-based and has no waitlist, we can provide care to as many of your patients as need it. After your referral, you can expect the following:

Fast, efficient intake

Within 24 hours of receiving your referral, we reach out to the parent/caregiver or individual, depending on their age, to schedule an intake phone call.

Quick start to treatment

If we’re a good fit after the clinical evaluation, their personalized treatment plan begins, typically within 1-4 weeks of application approval.

Ongoing treatment updates

We’ll keep you informed, as appropriate, on your patient’s progress—including adjustments made as needed.

A plan for lasting success

Each patient receives an individual transition plan to help sustain their skills after graduation.

Powerful outcomes on par with top-ranked academic hospital programs.

InStride fills critical gaps in care to help young people and their families emerge with more confidence and agency in their lives.

0%

of graduates experienced a reduction in anxiety following two months of treatment, with an average symptom reduction of ~46%1

0%

of graduates reported reduced symptom severity and functional impairment after 3 months2

0%

of caregivers reported a reduction in their own distress3

0%

reduction in significant work absenteeism among caregivers after 7 months4

Preliminary Clinical Outcomes, Updated: October 2023
See the full outcomes report

1As measured by the GAD7, among patients with initial elevated anxiety symptoms at admission (GAD7>=8). This reduction was both statistically significant and characterized by a large effect size.

2As measured by the Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS-Y). This reduction was both statistically significant and characterized by a medium effect size.

3After seven months of the patient’s treatment initiation as measured by CGSQ-7. Reported while patient was currently enrolled.

4As measured by CGSQ-7. Reported while patient was currently enrolled. Significant absenteeism defined as missing quite a bit/very much work.

Get your patient started today.

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Hear from your peers

“It’s been a real change in the outcomes of children because treatment is readily available, accessible, affordable, and convenient.”

Erin Delaney
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner at Schoolhouse Counseling Center

These individuals were not compensated in any form for their testimonials.
“To be able to see their kid flourish after watching them struggle—it really feels so uplifting.”

Khadijah Booth-Watkins, MD, MPH
Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital

These individuals were not compensated in any form for their testimonials.

Still have questions?

Find the answers to specific FAQs here.

InStride is a specialty pediatric outpatient treatment program for children, teens, and young adults (ages 7–22) with anxiety and/or OCD.

  • Individuals receive evidence-based treatment (CBT and ACT) with an emphasis on exposure therapy, delivered by dedicated, 3-person care teams including a psychiatrist, therapist, and exposure coach.
  • We provide planned and real-time exposure coaching by text, phone, or video so that individuals are supported as they face their fears in the real-world.
  • Our 4-12 month program was designed to be time-bound as our goal is to foster self-sufficiency rather than perpetual dependence on the treatment team. We help young people and their families learn to respond in new ways to anxiety and OCD and move forward with confidence.
  • Treatment can include: individual and family therapy, groups for both kids and parents/caregivers, exposure coaching (both scheduled and as-needed) and medication management, if indicated.
  • The care team regularly updates schools, pediatricians and other providers as appropriate to ensure that everyone understands the best way to support the individual.

No existing formal diagnosis is needed to apply. Early in our treatment process, each individual participates in a comprehensive clinical diagnostic evaluation so that an individually tailored, evidence-based treatment plan can be developed.

InStride provides specialty anxiety and OCD care that works for every kid, teen, young adult and family who needs it. For a list of symptoms and behaviors, visit our Who to Refer page.

The primary focus of treatment at InStride is anxiety and OCD, though many individuals in our care also have co-occurring disorders as well including depression, ADHD, ASD, and more.

In the states in which we practice, we accept most major insurers. To check if we accept your patient’s insurance, use our insurance finder.

We recommend that families call the number on the back of their insurance card to confirm current coverage, as we’re continually working to add new insurance options and new states.

Note: At this time, we do not accept Medicaid.

Yes. If medication is needed, the psychiatrist on the care team will prescribe it.

Parents and/or caregivers are an integral part of the treatment process. At a minimum, we ask that they participate in the initial clinical and medication evaluations as well as intermittent treatment review sessions. We also highly encourage them to participate in parent/caregiver groups and additional family and/or psychiatry sessions, as needed. Additional family support can be provided by the care team, as needed.

For young adults (aged 18+), we work with the individual and family to determine the most appropriate plan of action, based on their unique needs and circumstances.

We are here to help! We’re happy to talk with any of your families about our program and what it would look like for them. Please have them reach out to communityoutreach@instride.heath or call 855.438-8331.

We currently provide care in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia. We will be expanding into more states in the near future. Sign up to be the first to know when we launch in your state.

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Talk to Us

Have a question about InStride Health? We're here to help.

For Families and General Inquiry:
Phone: 855.438.8331
Email: info@instride.health

For Providers:
Phone: 855.438.8331
Email: providersupport@instride.health