Evidence-Based Care Your Students Can Count On
The Clinical Partner Your Students Need
InStride was founded by clinicians from Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital to make evidence-based care for anxiety and OCD available to every young person who needs it, including the students sitting in your school right now.
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Educators are often among the first to notice when a student’s anxiety or OCD begins to interfere with their daily lives. You see it as:
- The Empty Desk: Chronic absences despite a desire to learn.
- The Silent Struggle: High-achieving students paralyzed by a need to get everything right.
- The Loop: Students stuck in repetitive behaviors or needing constant validation to finish a task.
- The Nurse's Office Pattern: Stomachaches, headaches, and requests to go home that follow a pattern.
- The Morning Freeze: A student who can't get out the door in the morning, no matter what the family tries.
You do everything you can within your role. When these behaviors become a primary barrier to a student's success, they require a level of clinical intensity that schools aren't built to provide. InStride partners with you to provide the specialist-led, exposure-based treatment they need to get back to being a student.
Clinical Care That Works With Schools
Virtual treatment built around the school day, with a dedicated care team focused entirely on anxiety, OCD, and related conditions in young people.
Connect the family
Submit a referral with the student's name and family contact information. Our team of advisors and clinicians will reach out to them to finish the application, learn about their unique situation, and conduct a free evaluation.
Our team reaches out directly
Our team walks the family through the program, verifies insurance, and schedules the evaluation.
Treatment begins
The student is matched with a dedicated care team and typically starts within 1 to 4 weeks, depending on family availability. As appropriate, we will work with your school to support treatment and skill-building throughout the day.
Full Support for Your Student
InStride provides the structure, guided practice, and clinical expertise to help students build skills that hold up in the classroom, at home, and everywhere in between.
Therapist
Leads the treatment plan, delivering evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy with an emphasis on exposure therapy. Develops a personalized care plan around each student's specific needs, monitors progress, and coordinates with the family and school staff when included in the care plan. As the student progresses, the plan adjusts with them.
Exposure Coach
Guides students through practicing exposures in the real-world situations where anxiety and OCD show up, including at school. Your student's coach connects with them by text, video, and phone during and between sessions, providing the guided repetition and accountability that helps skills transfer from practice into the school day and beyond.
Psychiatrist
Part of the care team from day one. If medication is clinically indicated, the psychiatrist meets with the student and therapist to evaluate whether it could support treatment. They coordinate with the therapist and coach for ongoing medication management. No outside referral for the family to manage.
Building Community Support
When families choose to include the school, our care team coordinates directly with counselors and staff. School avoidance, attendance, and classroom anxiety are built into the treatment plan from the start. We share progress updates and work collaboratively to support the student across settings.
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Accessible Care for All Families
Proven Impact on Young People and Families
of graduates experience clinical improvement*
Assessed by clinicians using the Clinical Global Impression scale at completion. 85% experienced "very much" or "much" improvement.*
with significant reduction observed as early as two months*
Average anxiety symptom reduction among graduates is 53%, a clinically meaningful and statistically significant change.*
of high school and 58% of college-age young people had difficulty attending school before starting care*
School avoidance and attendance challenges are among the most common reasons families report to InStride. Getting back to school can be a visible sign of progress.
of graduates hospitalized at 12 months post-discharge*
The skills and habits are designed to hold up. In the year after completing the program, less than 1% of graduates were hospitalized.*
of young people would recommend InStride to a friend*
That kind of trust comes from the people doing the hard work, and they want others to know it's possible.
What Providers Say About InStride
Hear from providers who have seen the positive impact of InStride first hand.
Frequently Asked Questions
Families can apply right through our site or you can submit a referral directly with the student's name and family contact information. Our team reaches out quickly.
Treatment is fully virtual and scheduled around the school day. The goal is to get students more present at school, not less. Most families schedule sessions in the morning, after school, or during a free period.
No, a concern is enough to get started. Our team completes a full evaluation and determines whether InStride is the right fit. If it's not, we'll help connect them with support care options and support that align to their needs.
That's up to the family. When families choose to include the school in their student's care plan, our team coordinates with school counselors and staff directly.
Our team helps verify coverage with the family, and partners with them to handle everything before treatment begins, so there are no surprises.
That's common, especially with teens. The first step is a free evaluation, which is low-stakes by design. Our team is experienced with meeting young people where they are.
