Finding a behavioral health provider in America is harder than it needs to be. We're here to fix that — with verified data, no paid placements, and a genuine commitment to connecting people with care.
When someone decides to seek behavioral health care, that decision is already hard enough. The last thing they need is a fragmented, confusing landscape of directories — many of which charge providers to appear prominently, bury results behind paywalls, or list practitioners with outdated or unverified information.
We believed the country needed one authoritative, free, non-commercial source of truth: every licensed behavioral health practitioner in America, organized in a way that helps patients find the right match quickly and confidently.
BehavioralHealthGuide.org was built from that belief. We start from federal and state public data — the NPI Registry, SAMHSA facility locator, and all 50 state licensing boards — and we verify every listing. No one pays to appear. No one pays to rank higher. The only thing that determines your search results is how well a provider matches what you're looking for.
Every provider listed on BehavioralHealthGuide.org is matched against two independent sources: their National Provider Identifier (NPI) from the CMS NPI Registry, and their active license from their state licensing board. A provider only receives the "Verified" badge when both sources confirm an active, current credential.
Our automated pipeline re-checks license status every 30 days. When a license expires or is revoked, the verified badge is removed and the listing is flagged for review. We believe patients deserve to know that the person they're seeing is currently authorized to practice.
We don't charge providers to appear in search results. We don't sell sponsored placements. We don't have a "featured" tier that pushes paid listings above free ones. We don't share or sell patient data. We don't send marketing emails to patients who use our search.
BehavioralHealthGuide.org is a public resource. It exists to serve patients and families, not to monetize their vulnerability.
| Source | What we use it for | Update frequency | Access |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMS NPI Registry | Primary practitioner record — name, credential, location, taxonomy code | Monthly bulk download | Public / Free |
| SAMHSA Treatment Locator | Federally certified substance use and mental health treatment facilities | Quarterly | Public API |
| HRSA Data Warehouse | Federally qualified health centers, rural health, shortage area designations | Quarterly | Public / Free |
| State Licensing Boards (×50) | Active license verification, license number, expiration, disciplinary actions | Monthly | Public |
| Medicare Provider Enrollment | Confirms Medicare billing eligibility and enrollment status | Monthly | Public / Free |
| Provider Self-Reported | Photo, bio, specialties, insurance panels, availability, booking links | Real-time | Claimed profiles only |