While much of the digital sector’s attention has focused on the rise of AI and the projected $100 billion-plus expansion of the U.S. online education industry (Statista), a lesser-known segment has been quietly booming since the pandemic. The continuing education market for mental health professionals is undergoing rapid and lasting transformation—one that’s reshaping how therapists learn, connect, and certify across the country.
Recent market analysis places the U.S. digital healthcare education sector at more than $53 billion in 2024, with growth expected to accelerate over the next decade. Within the greater health sector, an estimated 700,000 licensed counselors, social workers, marriage and family therapists, and psychologists in the U.S. are required to complete 20 to 40 hours of ongoing training every year or two. Remote work, regulatory flexibility, and surging demand for mental health care have all fueled a rapid expansion in digital learning platforms which help mental health workers fulfill these requirements through online training. This growth shows no sign of slowing.
The Provider Landscape: Scale, Specialization, and Boutique Innovation
Before 2020, most professional development for therapists took place in person, at conferences or classroom-style workshops. By 2024, more than 70% of all ongoing education in the mental health field was delivered online (APA Monitor, Jan 2021). The market now includes hundreds of accredited digital education providers in the U.S., up from fewer than 100 in 2019 (NBCC CE Provider Directory).
Providers tend to fall into three broad categories:
- Large-scale companies such as PESI, CE4Less, and NetCE, which offer massive libraries of affordable, on-demand courses. These organizations dominate market share and appeal to professionals seeking low-cost, quick-credit options—often at the expense of personalized support or interaction with presenters, live engagement, or advanced faculty access.
- Professional associations like the American Psychological Association (APA), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which provide ongoing training as part of member services, have expanded their digital offerings significantly in recent years.
- Boutique innovators are a fast-growing segment in the space, emphasizing depth, high-value faculty access, and direct support for peer community building. These include organizations like Academy of Therapy Wisdom and Leading Edge Seminars. Some therapy modalities have created their own training platforms, such as Somatic Experiencing International and the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute.
Boutique Innovators: Specialization, Expertise, and Community
Boutique organizations are targeting therapists who seek advanced skills in areas not often covered in graduate school, such as somatic integration and complex trauma work. They also tend to focus on providing therapists with opportunities for meaningful connection and community-building, while offering more personal engagement with expert presenters. Many specialize in areas where the need for rigor and innovation is high, such as trauma and attachment disorders.
One standout to watch is Academy of Therapy Wisdom, a Boulder-based online continuing education company founded in 2020. They’ve served more than 80,000 therapists worldwide (weighted toward the English-speaking market), with educational content and curricula focusing on trauma therapy, neurobiology, somatic interventions, and helping therapists care for a broad spectrum of client identities and backgrounds.They produce courses with some of the biggest and most respected figures in psychotherapy, including world-recognized trauma therapy expert Dr. Janina Fisher, Frank Anderson, Linda Thai, and more controversial figures such as Bessel van der Kolk and Bayo Akomolafe.
A key differentiator for innovators like Therapy Wisdom is the emphasis they place on community, mentorship, and high-value interactive learning. In 2025, the company launched a platform designed to address professional isolation and burnout among therapists. Member surveys reveal that most users join for peer connection and support as much as for the training content and well-known faculty. As one therapist wrote, “Looking for community in this profession that can so often be isolating… Hoping for connection, support, and inspiration.”
Brian Spielmann, Therapy Wisdom founder and noted strategist for other high-profile contemplative and therapy-centered organizations explains, “The reality is, most therapists in private practice feel like they’re on an island. The big CE platforms treat them like numbers. We wanted to build a place where therapists could find a community invested in learning and effective care for their clients.” This emphasis on human connection is echoed across boutique organizations, many of which report spikes in engagement around live online events, peer discussion forums, and one-of-a-kind course offerings.
Nonprofits Expand Their Reach
Nonprofit and association-based providers have also scaled their online offerings. The American Psychological Association reports a major shift to online continuing education and remote conferences since 2020, with remote learning now a primary mode for many members. APA’s menu includes on-demand courses, virtual conferences, and workshops.
Somatic Experiencing International, a nonprofit educational organization specializing in trauma recovery, expanded rapidly into hybrid and online formats during the pandemic. Its practitioner base has grown to more than 18,000, reaching professionals in over 40 countries through a hybrid model that allows for both global reach and depth of training.
The Big Box Model: Accessibility, Scale, and Tradeoffs
Much like any industry in the modern marketplace, large-scale providers still dominate the mental health education space. Go-to turnkey platforms like PESI ((technically a 501(c)(3), but competes on a massive scale), CE4Less, and similar companies have made access to continuing education more immediate, with libraries of hundreds of courses each, often priced under $50 or free. Most therapists report using at least one of these platforms to meet licensing requirements. Convenience and affordability are the main draws, but the model has limitations. Direct faculty access, live engagement, and peer community are rare.
For many, these larger, more impersonal platforms serve as a transactional solution to maintain licensure: efficient for compliance, less effective for meaningful professional growth or connection. With the proliferation of ultra-low-cost and free continuing education options, some industry observers warn of a ‘race to the bottom’—where price trumps quality, and meaningful learning takes a back seat to credit accumulation.
Growth Trends, Burnout, and the Demand for Connection
Business is booming, but so are the pressures facing mental health professionals. Amid rising caseloads, administrative burdens, and ongoing societal stressors, therapist burnout has become a defining challenge. Research and internal data from Academy of Therapy Wisdom highlight that many professionals are shifting away from impersonal, “factory” education platforms, opting instead for those that show care for their well-being, offer opportunities for live interaction, and foster genuine community.
In a seemingly parallel thread, private equity investment in therapy group practices has sparked debate over the commoditization of care (Promarket Analysis). Therapists and laypersons alike are concerned about quality, connection, and balance in their professional and personal lives, as well as in their educational environments. As Brian Spielmann puts it, “Therapists are looking for more than check-box credits—they’re looking for spaces where they can be seen as people, not just providers.” Boutique and nonprofit organizations are responding by building platforms that prioritize mentorship, interactivity, and work-life balance.
The Business Case and Industry Outlook
The US digital healthcare education market (including mental health) is projected to double over the next decade, hitting $120.67 billion by 2034. Though the exact share of the mental health subset of this figure is unknown, this niche market’s rapid growth is compelling for investors. Looking forward, the most resilient brands in this space may be those that invest as much in their communities as in their course catalogs. For industry leaders, the challenge is to offer education that addresses not just compliance, but deep skills training, connection, and human flourishing. In the age of AI, this will become even more important.
The question for the next five years: Will continuing education for therapists become a commoditized race to the bottom—or will the industry reward platforms that cultivate expertise, mentorship, and real professional community? For business strategists and practitioners alike, this is the trend to watch.