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Tracing Mental Health: How Everyday Tech Can Support Well-Being

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Our phones, wearables, and computers silently capture streams of data — digital traces that reveal insights into our behaviors, emotions, and mental well-being. In a world where demand for mental health services far exceeds the supply of therapists, digital technology offers a powerful solution: expanding access to care, connecting people to support, and collecting data to better understand mental health challenges.

During our February 27 Beyond Equity Learning Series session, we heard from an expert about how digital tools like websites, mobile apps, wearable devices, and other software interventions can support emotional, cognitive, and behavior change through innovative programs that use technology to deliver therapy and support. The discussion highlighted the opportunities and ethical challenges of leveraging digital traces across diverse populations and the importance of focusing on accessibility, effectiveness, and safety as technology continues to evolve with the goal of bridging gaps in mental health care and empowering individuals with innovative tools for well-being.

Meet Our Speaker

Stephen Schueller, Ph.D., is a professor of psychological science and informatics at the University of California, Irvine. As a clinical psychologist and mental health services researcher, Dr. Schueller’s work focuses on how technology can improve mental health services by expanding access and improving accessibility. This includes the development, evaluation, and implementation of digital mental health products in diverse settings and populations.

Expert Insights

How has the digital mental health landscape evolved in recent years?

Digital mental health has undergone tremendous growth over the past few decades. We now have hundreds of studies that demonstrate digital mental health interventions work, especially for common mental health concerns like depression, anxiety, and sleep problems. We also have thousands of mental health apps, although few have sufficient evidence to really support that they can function as digital mental health treatments.

One recent evolution is the development of three new HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) codes in the 2025 Physician Fee Schedule related to digital mental health treatments. These codes provide some promise that such treatments may be reimbursed and used in the future.

What are the biggest barriers to scaling digital mental health interventions? 

One of the biggest barriers is reimbursement — who will pay for these tools? This is one reason why I’m optimistic with new billing codes being created. 

Another challenge is engagement. The most impactful and engaged digital mental health interventions are those provided with some human support. Some studies have even shown a brief onboarding session from a digital navigator can boost uptake and long-term engagement.

Recent federal cuts will definitely have an impact, but it’s too soon to know what that will look like. There’s also been considerable investment by states and other local governments. California, for example, is providing two digital mental health interventions to youth through its Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative — Brightline and Soluna.

How can digital tools complement traditional therapy rather than replace it? 

They can be self-help tools that either precede or follow therapy. One model here is called stepped care, where people are given a low-intensity treatment first (like a digital mental health intervention) and are only “stepped” to a more intense treatment (like therapy) if necessary. We did one study of stepped care for depression, starting with an internet-based program and stepping to telephone therapy if necessary, and found that the stepped care program was as effective and cheaper than starting people with telephone therapy.

They can also be tools that extend therapy to times and places where a therapist is not available. A client may access digital tools after hours to reinforce the skills and lessons they learn in therapy.


What ethical considerations should be prioritized in digital mental health solutions?

We need evidence that digital mental health interventions work. Many products are made available to consumers with no evidence whatsoever, and the products that do have evidence do not have good ways to demonstrate this advantage to consumers.

We also need to make sure that digital mental health interventions are safe. Unintended consequences need to be explored.

One of my biggest concerns is that a person might try a digital tool, not benefit, and then not seek out subsequent care. I think to be most impactful and responsible, digital mental health interventions need to be provided in continuums of care that help people get into the proper care as necessary.

How do we balance the potential of AI-driven mental health tools with concerns about data privacy?

I think of three principles when it comes to data privacy and innovation:

  • Companies need to be transparent about what data is being collected and why. Consumers should have a clear idea of their rights over their data, including how they can get access to or delete it.
  • Consumers should be able to trust companies. This includes companies being transparent and also ensuring they have taken adequate steps to build trust. Do they listen and incorporate diverse voices of those with lived experience? Do companies include people with clinical expertise? What values does the company uphold?
  • Consumers should get transactional value out of providing their data to companies, and that value should be linked to the type of data being collected. For example, I’m happy for Google to have my location data when using Google Maps because it helps me get somewhere. What type of value does a consumer get for sharing their data with an AI-driven mental health tool, and what kind of value is it creating for the company?

Looking into the future, what are the opportunities you are most excited about as digital tools become more accessible?

I’m excited to see effective treatments get into the hands of people who need them. I’m also excited about the potential for digital mental health interventions to introduce more choice and quality in mental health services. Far too few people who need mental health services receive them, and even those who do, too few people benefit. Our field has focused too much on the model of one-on-one face-to-face therapy, which might work for some people but not everyone.

More To Explore

How do we build a compassionate and inclusive America in an age of distrust? WAJAHAT ALI knows from personal experience that when we come together to be the superheroes of our own stories, we can create honest social change. The beloved TED speaker has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Atlantic about our urgent issues—immigration, politics, parenthood—with boldness, hope, and humor. His memoir Go Back to Where You Came From, one of Amazon’s Best Books of the Year, follows his life as a Muslim Pakistani-American on a surprising, emotional, and challenging quest for the good life. Iconic journalist Katie Couric says that “we are all so fortunate to be on the receiving end of his intellect, his humanity, and his heart.”

Wajahat Ali

“With wit and charm, Ali delivers a masterful meditation on growing up brown in America...he gives us a clear-eyed affirmation of the country America could be.” — Mara Gay, New York Times

Mara Gay, New York Times

Wajahat Ali uses his platform to fight tirelessly for the social change we need in our country—and he isn’t afraid to get personal while doing it. The Daily Beast columnist and former New York Times writer, TED speaker, award-winning playwright, and Peabody-nominated producer of the documentary series The Secret Life of Muslims offers us his experiences of triumph over hardship as a beacon of hope and resilience in the face of life’s impossible situations. From his experiences of Islamophobia growing up as a Muslim Pakistani-American to his two-year-old daughter’s liver cancer diagnosis, Wajahat is living proof that when we share our authentic stories, we build the America we wish to live in.”

In his memoir Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American, Wajahat teaches us how to create our own superhero origin story, invest in hope for the future of America, and enact real social change. The book was called “biting and funny and full of heart” by NPR. Representative Ilhan Omar called Wajahat’s work “hilarious” and “deeply moving”, and legendary writer Dave Eggers said it was the book he’d “been hoping Wajahat Ali would write for ten years—hilarious, stylistically fearless, deeply humane.”

Wajahat is also the author of The Domestic Crusaders—the first major play about Muslim-Americans in a post-9/11 world. He was the lead researcher and author for the Center for American Progress’s seminal report “Fear Inc., Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America,” and served as a national correspondent for Al Jazeera America, where he told stories about communities and individuals often marginalized or under-reported in mainstream media.

As Creative Director of Affinis Wajahat Labs, he worked to create social entrepreneurship initiatives to support and uplift marginalized communities. He also worked with the US State Department to design and implement the “Generation Change” leadership program to empower young social entrepreneurs. Wajahat initiated chapters in eight countries, including Pakistan and Singapore. For his work, he was honored as a “Generation Change Leader” by Sec. of State Clinton and recognized as an “Emerging Muslim American Artist” by the Muslim Public Affairs Council. 

He has given keynote speeches around the world such as TED, The Aspen Ideas Festival, Google, the United Nations, and The New Yorker Festival. His writing appears regularly in the New York Times, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and The Guardian. He’s a Senior Fellow at The Western States Center and Auburn Seminary and co-host of Al Jazeera’s The Stream.