Mental Health Blog

20 Years of REACH: Closing the Gap, Expanding Care

• May 14, 2026
• The REACH Institute

A Letter from REACH’s Founder, Dr. Peter Jensen

On May 6, 2006, we founded what is now known as REACH—The REsource for Advancing Children’s Health. As we mark our 20th anniversary, it’s worth reflecting on why we began, what we’ve accomplished, and how much work still lies ahead.

From the start, our name was intentional. We chose “Children’s Health,” not “mental health,” to reduce stigma and because it was already clear—even then—that mental health is inseparable from overall health. One of the most urgent, under-addressed needs in children’s (and adults’) health was—and remains—mental health care.

At the time, two landmark reports from the U.S. Surgeon General made a critical point: the solution to the growing mental health crisis would not come from specialists alone. There simply were—and still are—not enough child and adolescent psychiatrists or mental health providers to meet the need. The path forward required something more fundamental: Mainstreaming mental health into primary care.

This meant that pediatricians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, family physicians—even internists—would need to serve as first-line responders for children’s and teens’ mental health needs.  At the same time, another challenge loomed large: the well-documented 15–20 year gap between research and practice. Families seeking care—even from trusted providers—were often receiving treatment based on knowledge that was decades out of date. That gap became impossible to ignore.

A Personal Turning Point

For me, this work has always been deeply personal. As a young boy, I was inspired by the humanitarian physician Albert Schweitzer, whose work serving families in Africa left a lasting impression. I remember wanting, in some small way, to “truly make a difference.”  Years later, my work at NIH and Columbia helped launch major clinical trials that advanced the science of child mental health—especially in ADHD and related conditions. Those efforts were important. But over time, I came to a sobering realization: Even the best research doesn’t help patients if it never reaches them.  The 15–20 year gap between discovery and everyday practice meant that many of the advances we worked so hard to achieve were not being used in real-world care.

That realization changed everything.  At the same time, I began to explore a different question: Why weren’t we as clinicians changing our practices—even when the evidence was clear?  Everyone simply said, “CME [continuing medical education] didn’t work.” But that answer wasn’t good enough.

As I looked deeper, I discovered something surprising: an entire body of science—drawn from behavioral psychology, communication science, and cognitive neuroscience—focused on how people actually change behavior. These methods were being used to help patients quit smoking, manage diabetes, improve diet, and adhere to treatment.  Yet almost none of this science had been applied to how we train ourselves as healthcare providers.  Instead, we relied on traditional lectures, panels, and passive learning—approaches that rarely change behavior.

That became the insight behind REACH:  If we want clinicians to change how they practice, we must apply the same science of behavior change that we use to help our patients change their lives.

From Individual Impact to System-Level Change

Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of helping individual children and families—sometimes during very difficult moments. I will never forget the parents who told me, “Thank you…we have our child back.” 

Those moments are powerful.  But they also raise a larger question:  How do we scale that impact? How do we move from helping one family at a time to helping thousands—through the clinicians families already trust?  REACH was built to answer that question.

Building a Scalable Solution

Since our founding, REACH has trained nearly 10,000 primary care providers and specialists across the United States and Canada. But this is not simply education—it is practice transformation. Clinicians expand their scope of practice, build confidence, and change how they care for patients.

Over time, we also learned that to truly reach children, we had to expand beyond pediatrics. Nearly half of all children are seen by family physicians, and as youth grow older, their care shifts again. Our mission broadened to ensure that evidence-based mental health care is available across the lifespan.

And still, the need remains vast. There are tens of thousands of clinicians—pediatricians, nurse practitioners, family physicians, and specialists—who could benefit from training and support to meet the mental health needs of their patients.

Looking Ahead

We have made meaningful progress, but we are far from finished.  The vision that launched REACH 20 years ago remains as urgent today as it was then: A world in which any child, adolescent, or adult can receive high-quality, up-to-date mental health care from a trusted local clinician.  That vision is within reach—but only if we continue to expand, collaborate, and innovate.

A Personal Note of Gratitude

In 2023, I was honored to receive the AARP Purpose Prize, which recognizes individuals over 50 who have started new initiatives to serve their communities. I was 56 when we launched REACH, and that recognition was deeply meaningful—not as a personal milestone, but as affirmation of the importance of this work.  But the real impact belongs to the thousands of clinicians – you who have taken what you’ve learned and applied it in your practices—and to the children and families whose lives have been improved as a result.

Thank You: To our faculty, partners, and supporters—and especially to the clinicians we have trained—thank you. And most importantly, thank you for the work you do every day to serve children and families.

Here’s to the next 20 years!

Peter S. Jensen, MD

Board Chair & Founder; Chief Scientist

The REACH Institute

PS: For those of you who are learning about REACH for the first time, we welcome you! Learn more about our trainings and how you can help more children and families in your own practice! Send any questions to us at info@TheREACHInstitute.org.