Headspace Unveils Stratified Care Model Powered by Empathetic AI Companion, Ebb

Yahoo

21-05-2025

Headspace's proprietary empathetic AI companion is available today to over eight million employees and their families across 2,000+ companies
Starting January 2026, AI triage will route employees to the right level of mental health care faster to improve clinical outcomes and lower costs for employers
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 21, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Headspace, the world's most accessible and comprehensive mental health platform, today unveiled its stratified care model for organizations, powered by Ebb, its empathetic AI companion.
Traditional and new employee assistance programs (EAPs) often default to therapy, regardless of clinical necessity or individual preference. With this in mind, Headspace is taking a stratified approach to care, leveraging conversational AI to evaluate a member's needs, symptoms and risk factors at the onset and then intelligently guide them to the most appropriate level of care within Headspace's ecosystem—whether coaching, therapy, psychiatry, self-guided tools, or work-life services. By ensuring timely, appropriate support based on each person's needs, a stratified approach prevents downstream costs associated with worsening symptoms, comorbid conditions, and lost productivity—helping employers and health plans lower overall mental health spend.
Headspace's new care model includes:
Ebb, an empathetic AI companion for employees: Built by a team of clinical psychologists and data scientists, Ebb is a conversational AI tool trained in motivational interviewing, an evidence-based methodology that can help people make positive behavioral changes. With the guidance of Ebb, employees can engage in self-reflection, process thoughts and emotions, and receive personalized content recommendations from over 5,000 meditations and activities in the Headspace library. Headspace first launched its AI companion, Ebb, to its direct-to-consumer member base in the U.S., UK, Australia and Canada last fall. Since then, over two million messages have been exchanged on topics ranging from relationship challenges, work frustrations, sleep issues, boundaries and self-care.
Smarter triage and personalized care plans that adapt to employee needs: The new care model uses a measurement-based care approach that combines clinically validated assessments with AI-driven insights to identify each member's needs, severity level, and preferences—resulting in care plans tailored to individual goals. As needs evolve, members stay engaged through real-time progress tracking, goal setting, and timely support from Ebb, content, a coach, or a therapist. Today 62% of Headspace's enterprise members engage in two or more care modalities, signaling the desire for a personalized, integrated care plan that fits into their daily lives.
Personalized provider matching: Employees can access support across modalities—including 24/7 phone and text support, video, and in-person care—and select from over 15,000 licensed providers (plus 70,000+ via extended networks). Provider matching powered by machine learning will consider availability and identity preferences to foster strong therapeutic alliances, resulting in better outcomes.
Whole-person support through benefits navigation: Employees can easily find the right care—whether that's mental health support or other employer-sponsored benefits. This connected experience improves benefits utilization and helps HR leaders connect physical and mental health benefits for holistic support.
Global scalability with multilingual and culturally responsive care: Support will span more than 100 languages for clinical and coaching services, with award-winning content and navigation tools expanding to 27 languages—enabling scalable, culturally relevant mental health care for diverse global populations.
"Everyone deserves mental health support—but not everyone needs the same kind," said Dr. Jenna Glover, Chief Clinical Officer at Headspace. "We were an early pioneer of end-to-end mental health care, knowing that people experience better outcomes when they engage in the right combination of human and self-guided care, not just a one-size-fits-all approach. We're now taking that to the next level with our stratified care model, which is designed to adapt with members as they move through their care journeys, ensuring they get what they need, when they need it."
"A lot of traditional EAPs focus just on therapy, but we knew our team needed more than that," said Lisa Mosby, Chief People Officer at bartaco. "Sometimes it's therapy or coaching, sometimes it's a meditation or a sleepcast to unwind after a long shift. We wanted to make mental health support feel natural and accessible—something people could use every day, not just in a crisis. That's what made Headspace's approach stand out for us."
To learn more about how Headspace supports more than 4,500 organizations globally, visit organizations.headspace.com.
Availability:
Ebb, Headspace's empathetic AI companion, is available to organizations as of May 2025.
Smart triage and personalized care plans coming January 2026.
Real-time progress tracking and goal setting will be available as of January 2026.
Personalized provider matching coming January 2026.
Digital benefits navigation will be available as of January 2026.
Global language expansion will occur throughout 2026.
About Headspace
Headspace is your lifelong guide to better mental health. By combining AI and cutting edge technology, clinical science and human care, we provide people around the world with always-there support, ranging from our meditation and mindfulness content, self-guided care, mental health coaching, and therapy – all in one app. We partner with leading employers, health plans and partners, bringing even more support to their populations, including psychiatry, EAP, care navigation and work-life services. Our team of experts ranges from mental health clinicians to Emmy award-winning producers, and data scientists, working together as one to help millions of people around the world build resilience and feel better. In a busy, complicated world, Headspace is here to remind you that your mind matters. To learn more, please visit headspace.com.
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Contacts
Sara LindseyDirector of Communications, Headspace919 802 [e-mail]