LifeStance Health
NASDAQ: LFSTScottsdale, US Β· Founded 2017 Β· 5,549 employees on LinkedIn Β· Public Β· 2 known investors
LifeStance provides mental healthcare services through a network of clinicians and therapists, delivering outpatient psychiatric and behavioral health treatment across the United States. The company serves patients seeking mental health support and works with providers and health systems to expand access to evidence-based care.
Also known as LFST Β· LifeStance Health Group, Inc.
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026LifeStance Health is an outpatient mental health care organization that delivers therapy, medication management (psychiatry) and psychological testing through a national network of clinicians, with care offered both in person at local offices and virtually. The company reports approximately 8,300 supported clinicians practicing in roughly 550 offices across 33 states, and offers services spanning more than 80 mental health specialties, including specialty modalities such as TMS, EMDR and Spravato, group therapy, and services for children and teens.
Care is delivered under a single integrated system in which patient records are shared across therapists, psychiatrists and testing services, supported by a state-by-state patient portal for records access, messaging, and uploading insurance and identity documents. The company states it accepts more than 240 insurance plans, including commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, EAP and Tricare products, with most patient copays cited at $22-$36 with insurance.
LifeStance is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, and trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker LFST following its June 2021 IPO.
Founding story
The company was founded in 2017 by Mike Lester, an experienced healthcare executive, together with a core team he had worked with for over a decade. They identified an acute need in behavioral health and partnered with Summit Partners and Silversmith Capital Partners to build a national outpatient platform combining psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed therapists across telehealth and in-person settings.
Business model
LifeStance employs or supports a large network of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, psychologists and licensed therapists who deliver outpatient mental health services through company offices and telehealth. The model is built on in-network insurance reimbursement rather than cash-pay or subscription pricing, with scale intended to secure payer contracts and keep patient out-of-pocket costs low.
Revenue is generated from outpatient mental health visits reimbursed by third-party payers, with more than 240 accepted insurance plans and patient copays typically cited at $22-$36. Growth is described by management as driven mainly by clinician growth and visit volume, plus low-single-digit rate increases and modest productivity gains, with per-visit revenue expected to grow in part through expanded specialty service lines.
Traction
Reported growth included 930,000 patient visits, 125 centers and 800 clinicians in 2018; 1.4 million visits, 170 centers and 1,400 clinicians in 2019; and 2.3 million visits, 370 centers and more than 3,000 clinicians in 2020. Second-quarter 2024 revenue was $312 million, up 20% year over year, and a later reported quarter showed revenue of $403.5 million, up 21%, with net income of $14.2 million. The company's site cites a 4.9 rating across 163,288 reviews.
Latest developments
LifeStance has signaled a return to acquisitions after becoming free cash flow positive and strengthening its balance sheet, while targeting double-digit EBITDA margins on exiting 2025 against full-year guidance of roughly 7.5%-8%. Recent activity includes a partnership with Calm Health, a LifeStance Health Foundation partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, research conducted with Researchscape International, planned expansion of its downtown Milwaukee offices, participation in the 22nd Annual Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare Conference, and the hiring of Dr. Mouzon, previously Associate Medical Director of Adult Outpatient Psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Described as one of the largest outpatient mental health platforms in the United States, LifeStance positions its hybrid in-person and virtual model, insurance acceptance, and integrated therapy/psychiatry/testing services against virtual-only subscription therapy platforms, online provider directories, and solo or small private practices.
The company differentiates on the breadth of its network (approximately 8,300 clinicians, roughly 550 clinics, 80+ specialties), continuity of care across therapy, psychiatry and testing within one records system, in-house psychological testing, broad insurance acceptance, and the ability for patients to switch clinicians within the network.
Technology
LifeStance was built on a digital foundation with telehealth as a core component, and telepsychiatry volume expanded from about 300 telepsych visits per week to more than 40,000 per week after March 2020. The company consolidated onto a single electronic medical record and one phone system, added a new clinician credentialing and onboarding system, and has been rolling out a digital patient check-in tool. Reported technologies in use include Docker, NoSQL, NetSuite, Playwright, Microsoft Visio, PWA, CookieYes and MouseFlow.
Go-to-market
Patients are acquired directly through the company's website via a provider-matching tool and searchable provider directory filterable by state, care type, insurance, and specialty, with both online and phone scheduling. Growth has historically been driven by acquisitions of behavioral health practices alongside de novo center openings and clinician recruitment.
Individuals seeking outpatient mental health care, including children, teens and adults, who want insurance-covered therapy, psychiatry or psychological testing delivered either in person or virtually.
Geography
Operations span 33 U.S. states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. Headquarters are in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the company has planned an expansion of its downtown Milwaukee presence.
History
LifeStance was founded in 2017 with backing from Summit Partners and Silversmith Capital Partners, pursuing a strategy of acquiring and integrating outpatient behavioral health practices; it completed its 50th acquisition in 2020 and announced a majority recapitalization that year. The company completed its IPO on the Nasdaq (LFST) on June 10, 2021 and launched the Not1Face campaign the same year. Beginning in 2023 it paused acquisitions, closed 82 locations, limited de novo openings and standardized operations onto a single EMR and phone system, reduced payer contracts and rolled out new credentialing, before signaling a planned return to M&A around 2026.
Risks & controversies
With just over 70% of visits delivered virtually, the company's virtual prescribing practices are exposed to potential expiration of COVID-era DEA telehealth flexibilities, which would shift more business to in-person care; management has said it prepared for a possible full rollback by ensuring patients requiring annual in-person visits were seen. The business also carries execution risk around margin expansion targets and the restart of acquisition-driven growth after a period of location closures and scaled-back growth.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Founder mafia
2 people who came through LifeStance Health went on to found or lead other companies.
Competitors Β· 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with LifeStance Health for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 12
launches, deals, and filingsDr. Mouzon previously served as Associate Medical Director of the Adult Outpatient Psychiatry Department at Montefiore Medical Center and was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Calm Health partnered with LifeStance Health to help users access mental health care.
Partnership to advance mental health research.
LifeStance conducted 2025 research in partnership with Researchscape International on generational differences in family communication.
At the 22nd Annual Morgan Stanley Healthcare Conference, CFO David Bourdon said LifeStance would become more acquisitive after becoming free cash flow positive and strengthening its balance sheet.
LifeStance closed 82 locations and announced plans to abstain from acquisitions in 2023 and 2024, limiting de novo openings to no more than 10 facilities by the end of 2024.
LifeStance completed its 50th acquisition as part of its practice roll-up strategy.
Founded by Mike Lester in 2017 to build a national outpatient behavioral health platform, with Summit Partners and Silversmith Capital Partners as backers.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- LifeStance Healthlifestance.com Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does LifeStance Health do?
- Outpatient mental health provider offering in-person and virtual therapy, psychiatry and testing across 33 U.S. states.
- Who are LifeStance Health's investors?
- LifeStance Health's investors include Silversmith Capital Partners, TPG.
- Is LifeStance Health publicly traded?
- Yes β LifeStance Health trades on NASDAQ under the ticker LFST.
- Where is LifeStance Health headquartered?
- LifeStance Health is headquartered in Scottsdale, US.