Special Initiatives of the Chair

YogaX is designed to integrate therapeutic yoga into healthcare. This groundbreaking endeavor equips healthcare providers and yoga professionals with comprehensive toolkits that encompass integrated holistic yoga practices, empowering people on their journey toward healing, resilience, and thriving.

Stanford WellConnect is a confidential program to promote mental health for medical trainees (MD/DO residents and fellows), physicians and advance practice providers at PCHA and SMP, and all benefits-eligible faculty in the School of Medicine at Stanford. 

Stanford University’s Tech-X: Mental Health + Technology Immersion Experience is a dynamic one-week summer program for high school students at the forefront of mental health innovation. This immersive experience offers a deep dive into the intersection of mental health and technology - exploring where we are today and imagining future possibilities. 

The Pegasus Physician Writers at Stanford are a community of physicians and physicians-in-training at Stanford who gather to workshop their creative writing — and find their voice on the page.

Neurodiversity is a concept that regards individuals with differences in brain function and behavioral traits as part of normal variation in the human population. The movement of Neurodiversity is about uncovering the strengths of neurodiverse individuals and utilizing their talents to increase innovation and productivity of the society as a whole.   

(formerly Stanford Neurodiversity Project)

The Tech Hub's mission is to empower clinicians, researchers, educators, and industry partners who are driving mental health advancements through technological innovation. We act as catalysts for our community by providing expertise, connections, and resources, with the goal of democratizing effective solutions that improve the well-being of individuals and communities around the world.

Established in Fall 2025, this Special Initiative seeks to create a community of scholars at Stanford and clinical- and policy-stakeholders in the Bay Area who are devoted to identifying opportunities for innovations and sharing best practices to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable populations affected by housing instability and involvement in the legal system. 

We believe all forms of media (news, entertainment, social) have the power to make a transformational impact on health and mental health, when used accurately, safely and in ethical, developmentally appropriate ways. This initiative, part of the CYMHWB and funded by SPOt, aims to understand and improve the impact of media on mental health through partnerships, collaboration, and projects aimed to enhance the prosocial, safe use of media in multiple forms.

Our mission is to conduct research and provide expert guidance in achieving mental health and optimal performance to create actionable, reliable, and continuously updated resources that translate evidence-based research into guidelines for positive mental health and wellbeing among athletes and others who value self-care. We aim to lead the way in consultation and policy guidance to healthcare systems, governments, sports organizations, corporations, and medical professionals on brain health and quality of life.

The INSPIRE Training Program offers specialized training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for psychosis (CBTp), Compassion Focused Therapy in Psychosis (CFTp), and a variety of workshops for clinicians who work with individuals with complex mental health needs. Their aim is to provide accessible training to empower professionals worldwide to deliver recovery-oriented evidence-based care, revolutionizing the treatment of psychosis to ensure accessible, meaningful treatment for all.

Medicine is the most human of the sciences with the physician-patient relationship at its heart. When this human side of medicine is marginalized, clinical outcomes and even health costs suffer. By facilitating an academic and clinical interface between medicine and humanities, this initiative allows the insights and wisdom of campus historians, anthropologists, philosophers and literary scholars find their way into Stanford Medicine.

The Global Mental Health Initiative unites psychiatry, law, global health, and related disciplines to address urgent public mental health and human rights challenges. The focus of this initiative is to protect patients, strengthen health systems, and transform global mental health.

By measuring, coordinating, strategizing, and transforming the impact of educational activities, this initiative aims to benefit learners at every level. We are working to create a model “learning education system” in psychiatry, iteratively integrating innovation and best practices into teaching, with data-driven and technology-enabled methodologies.

This summer program introduces high school students to the amazing breadth of research and discovery going on in our Department -- from how creativity is visualized with brain waves, how apps and virtual reality are treating eating disorders, to how psychiatrists support human rights cases at the World Court. An emphasis on self-reflection and self-directed learning enhances this unique experience.

CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry is a research and action initiative devoted to the advancement of Community-minded Interventions for Resilience, Climate Leadership, and Emotional well-being. CIRCLE's focus is to address the mental health impacts of climate change in inclusive ways that support groups and communities, with a specialization in climate distress and the co-design and evaluation of interventions with impacted communities. 

The Stanford Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing is collaborating with youth, their families, and communities to accelerate the creation, implementation, and evaluation of innovative, culturally-responsive mental health and wellbeing programs, with an emphasis on increasing equity, expanding access, and centering youth voice.

Precision psychiatry is part of a biomedical revolution which will change the way medicine will diagnose and treat illness for the individual and for populations. By identifying specific brain circuitry in each individual, personalized corrective measures can be developed to more effectively treat mental illnesses.

Brainstorm's mission is to tap into the combined potential of academia and industry – bridging medicine, technology, and entrepreneurship to lead the design and use of clinically-informed tech-enabled products to improve people’s mental health and overall well-being. 

The importance of a sense of belonging has been demonstrated through extensive empirical work on human resilience and the factors that protect emotional health and personal wellbeing. The Belonging Project at Stanford advances research, education, and applied work on belonging as a core behavioral and mental health process, with the goal of strengthening individual wellbeing, relational connection, and institutional culture at Stanford and beyond.

AI4MH aims to transform research, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric & behavioral disorders by creating and using responsible AI. To achieve this vision, we create AI tools tailored towards psychiatric applications, facilitate their use within the department, foster interdisciplinary collaborations, and provide cutting-edge knowledge.

The first of its kind in the U.S., allcove is developing an innovative network of integrated youth mental health centers designed with, by and for youth that reduce stigma, embrace mental wellness, increase community connection and provide access to culturally-responsive services. allcove centers serve young people ages 12-25, providing a unique space for them to access our services, with resources and support for friends, family and the larger community. 

AMP is a structured sponsorship and mentorship initiative designed to meet the needs and experiences of trainees from all backgrounds. Our aim is to promote a collaborative model of mentorship that provides culturally-informed education, interactive training and social support jointly to mentors and mentees.