Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry

What Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry does

The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP) is a non-profit psychiatric think tank founded in 1946 by Dr. William Menninger, comprising over 200 leading psychiatrists who convene twice yearly to debate issues facing American psychiatry and produce expert-authored scholarship. The organization operates through 32 specialized committees covering areas including psychopharmacology, ethics, LGBTQ+ mental health, climate psychiatry, disaster psychiatry, military and veterans' mental health, and technology in psychiatry, publishing reports and books such as Disaster Psychiatry: Readiness, Evaluation, and Treatment (Second Edition) and Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction. GAP's deliverables include a Research Catalog archiving decades of scholarship, a Fellowship Program with annual cohorts for early-career psychiatrists, and the Doctors in Dialogue podcast distributed via Substack.

GAP disseminates thought leadership through a content partnership with Psychology Today, a 50+ year collaboration with the Dear Abby column, and recurring placements in major media outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Wall Street Journal, and NPR. Semi-annual member meetings are held in the Northeast U.S. (historically White Plains, NY, with recent meetings at the Sonesta White Plains Downtown Hotel and the Hyatt Regency in Greenwich, CT). The organization's membership is governed by an elected board led by President Robert P. Roca, MD (2024-2025 term), with Sy Saeed as President Elect, David Sasso as Secretary, and Gail E. Robinson as Treasurer.

GAP's revenue model relies on member dues, donations, and foundation grants — including funding from the Phillips Van-Buren Family Foundation, I. Wistar Morris, and the Cotswold Foundation for the Fellowship Program. Members contribute their time pro bono, and access to resources such as the Research Catalog and member directory is gated through affiliation. Member registration for meetings is modest (e.g., $100 for the Fall 2022 meeting), and full dues are not publicly disclosed. The organization operates exclusively within the United States and has no disclosed technology platform, API, or commercial product lines.

Name

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry

Legal name

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry

Website

https://ourgap.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry is a 1946-founded non-profit psychiatric think tank of 200+ leading psychiatrists who convene twice yearly, produce expert reports through 32 specialized committees, and disseminate thought leadership via Psychology Today, a Substack podcast, and the Dear Abby column.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Psychiatric Association

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Psychiatry & Medication Management Platforms (HLALAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Outpatient Mental Health & Counseling Clinics (HLAFABAC)

Keywords

• Psychiatric think tank
• Professional medical association
• Mental health publications
• Psychiatry fellowship program
• Thought leadership content

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Fellowship Program Funding: GAP receives funding from foundation grants and donations to support its fellowship program for early-career psychiatrists.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry is a membership-based psychiatric think tank that convenes more than 200 senior psychiatrists twice annually to deliberate on issues facing American psychiatry, and produces expert-authored reports, books, podcasts, and recommendations through 32 specialized committees. Its commercial offerings include the GAP Fellowship Program for early-career psychiatrists, semi-annual plenary meetings, and authored publications such as Disaster Psychiatry and Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction. Distribution is anchored in a gated member directory, Substack newsletter, Psychology Today partnership, and the Doctors in Dialogue podcast.

Product overview

The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry operates as a psychiatric think tank comprising over 200 leader psychiatrists who convene twice yearly to produce expert reports and guidance on contemporary psychiatric issues. The organization's offerings consist primarily of publications (GAP Reports and books such as Disaster Psychiatry and Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction), a Fellowship Program for emerging psychiatric leaders, and semiannual meetings featuring plenary sessions. The portfolio also includes a Research Catalog archiving decades of scholarship, the Doctors in Dialogue Podcast, and thought leadership content produced in partnership with Psychology Today. The organization maintains 32 specialized committees addressing topics ranging from psychopharmacology and ethics to LGBTQ+ mental health, climate psychiatry, and technology in psychiatry.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GAP Reports Expert-authored reports and publications on psychiatric topics produced by GAP committees, covering psychopharmacology, ethics, disaster psychiatry, LGBTQ+ mental health, workplace dysfunction, and clinical practice guidelines, for psychiatric professionals and policy audiences.
• GAP Fellowship Program Structured fellowship program for early-career psychiatrists delivering mentorship and training in psychiatric leadership and research, with annual cohorts and foundation-funded support.
• GAP Semiannual Meetings Twice-yearly plenary meetings (Spring and Fall) convening more than 200 psychiatric leaders for plenary sessions, committee deliberations, and networking, with in-person registration for members and invited guests.
• Doctors in Dialogue Podcast Podcast series featuring expert discussions on psychiatric topics and mental-health issues, distributed via the GAP Substack newsletter to professional and general audiences.
• Disaster Psychiatry: Readiness, Evaluation, and Treatment, Second Edition Second-edition professional book offering a clinically oriented, evidence-based, and practical guide to mental-health evaluation and interventions against the backdrop of adversity, edited by Frederick J. Stoddard Jr., Craig L. Katz, and Grant H. Brenner.
• Psychiatry of Workplace Dysfunction Book addressing key drivers that disrupt workplace environments and providing strategies to address problematic behaviors and emotions that place the mental health of employees at risk, intended for mental health professionals and employee-facing managers.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Psychology TodaycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGAP has a thought leadership partnership with Psychology Today, featuring articles by GAP members on the 'Psychiatry's Think Tank' blog. Topics covered include social media effects, gender-affirming care, LGBTQ youth, mental health of young adults, gun violence, and various clinical psychiatry topics.
• Dear Abby (Pauline Phillips and Jeanne Phillips)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGAP has maintained a 50+ year collaboration with Dear Abby, beginning in the 1950s. GAP committees including Psychiatry and Religion, LGBTQ, and Community have utilized the Dear Abby column, which reaches millions of readers nationwide, to study the interface of psychiatry and the public. The collaboration has produced research on faith and LGBTQ identities and religious faith and transgender identities.
• Vibrant Emotional HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGAP's Committee on Disasters, Trauma and Global Health collaborates with Vibrant Emotional Health on the Chronic Cyclical Disaster Model, developed to help key stakeholders make sense of and stage responses to increasingly frequent and complex disaster events.
• Decision PointcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGAP's Committee on Disasters, Trauma and Global Health collaborates with Decision Point on the Chronic Cyclical Disaster Model, a framework for responding to chronic, recurring disasters including the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and mass casualty events.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• World Psychiatric Association: The international umbrella body for psychiatry with similar think-tank and standards-setting functions, but broader global scope. Peer in mission of advancing psychiatric practice worldwide.

Direct peers

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: A subspecialty psychiatric professional society that operates with committee structures, publications, and member leadership — the same operating model as GAP. Comparable in scale and professional-society mechanics.
• Society of Biological Psychiatry: A subspecialty psychiatric research society whose committee and publication-driven model mirrors GAP's, with overlap on the Psychopharmacology committee's domain (medication management).
• American College of Psychiatrists: An honorary psychiatric society whose membership overlaps substantially with GAP. Peer in being a selective, member-driven body focused on advancing psychiatric scholarship and leadership.
• American Psychiatric Association: The largest US professional psychiatric organization and the publisher of the DSM; many GAP members have served as its president. Direct peer in mission (advancing psychiatric practice) and structure (membership society publishing guidelines).
• American Association for Social Psychiatry: A US psychiatric professional society focused on the social and cultural dimensions of mental health — directly comparable to GAP's biopsychosocial orientation and committee-based research model.
• American Psychoanalytic Association: A US mental-health professional society with membership, publications, and meetings structured similarly to GAP; more focused on psychoanalytic theory but part of the same broader psychiatric professional ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Psychiatric Research Society: A smaller psychiatric research society modeled on academic meeting and mentorship formats. Smaller in scale than GAP but overlapping in mission of advancing psychiatric scholarship.
• American Neuropsychiatric Association: A smaller subspecialty psychiatric professional society with comparable membership-meeting-and-publication model; narrower scope than GAP, but intersects on the Neuropsychiatry committee domain.

Regional players

• Royal College of Psychiatrists: The UK national psychiatric professional body, similar in committee-driven structure and standards-setting function, but operating under UK jurisdiction and membership. Comparable model in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thinkpsychiatry
• Facebookfacebook.com/thinkpsychiatry

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry