Octave, a new national behavioral health studio, will open its first location at 286 Madison Avenue near Bryant Park, New York, on October 29. Octave is now accepting appointments for therapy, coaching, and classes.
The Octave approach allows people to design a personalized program for their emotional well-being that integrates therapy, coaching, and classes. Its clinical team includes psychologists and therapists from diverse backgrounds who have taught at institutions such as Columbia University, Mount Sinai, and NYU.
Octave offers individual therapy sessions to address a wide range of issues, as well as a stress management coaching program and daily, drop-in classes where people can learn the same mindfulness and coping skills typically learned in cognitive behavioral therapy, starting at $15 per class.
“By having a range of services that start as low as $15 for a single class, we’ll be able to meet people wherever they are,” says Octave CEO and co-founder Sandeep Acharya in a release. “We want to help people be as proactive and consistent about their emotional well-being as their physical fitness, and that starts with making these types of services more accessible.”
Acharya first saw the need for Octave when he was head of strategy at One Medical. He observed that many physical conditions, such as insomnia or chronic pain, were often driven or worsened by underlying emotional issues. These issues can be difficult to address with primary care alone. “Your doctor can diagnose you with insomnia, and prescribe a sleep aid, but they can’t help you see if a fear of failure is really what’s keeping you up at night,” says Acharya.
He also saw people struggling to get support for their emotional health. Good therapists often have long wait lists and can be prohibitively expensive, and without guidance, it’s hard for people to know whether therapy is even warranted, or if another approach might be just as effective. Sandeep found very few resources to help people navigate this landscape, these kinds of issues can go untreated.
Acharya founded Octave in early 2018 with Sarah Gundle, PsyD, and Kristen Scarlett, MA, LMHC, two therapists in New York City. The company’s integrated system of care was developed in conjunction with a team of advisors including Matt McKay, PhD, and Rochelle Frank, PhD, who have collectively authored or co-authored over 70 books on psychology.
“We really believe there is an opportunity to take our profession from treating illness to fostering wellness. For too long, mental health has been an afterthought in the healthcare industry, and our team of clinicians is dedicated to changing that,” says clinic director and co-founder Kristen Scarlett, MA, LMHC.
Octave’s first studio opens in two weeks in New York City and will be offering therapy, coaching, mindfulness, and insomnia classes and groups to start, with more programs to come. The company is targeting expansion to a second city and plans to open 6-8 locations within the next two years. Octave has raised seed funding from Felicis Ventures and a number of angel investors.
