North Star Behavioral Health

What North Star Behavioral Health does

North Star Behavioral Health is a private-pay, out-of-network psychiatric and therapy practice headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, founded in 2016 by board-certified adult psychiatrist Dr. Brandon Gimbel. The practice provides diagnostic evaluation, medication management, and psychotherapy to children, adolescents, adults, and families, organized around a "Thoughtful Psychiatry" philosophy that emphasizes unhurried appointments and continuity of care over insurance-driven throughput. Services are delivered through a primary Northbrook office, a downtown Chicago satellite at 401 N. Michigan Avenue, and telehealth across Illinois, with a dedicated child and adolescent sub-brand called North Star Kids.

The practice operates an unusual revenue structure for a clinical group: patients pay session fees at the time of service plus an annual North Star Care Standard membership that funds between-visit coordination, secure messaging, and after-hours availability. A second-opinion consultation service led by Dr. Gimbel monetizes complex-case expertise on a one-time basis. Distribution is entirely direct-to-consumer through a website intake form, supported by a substantial content-marketing apparatus that includes the North Star Conversations video series, the How Suffering Works written library, and three published books. The practice also maintains a community partnership with the nonprofit CATCH for children's mental-health outreach.

The underlying technology stack is conventional healthcare practice infrastructure — secure messaging, a patient hub, and an intake form — with no proprietary platform or AI capabilities disclosed. The clinical team comprises five named clinicians (four psychiatrists and one LCSW) plus administrative staff for an estimated 10 total employees, and the practice is privately held with no disclosed external funding or parent entity.

Name

North Star Behavioral Health

Legal name

North Star Behavioral Health

Website

https://northstarbh.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

North Star Behavioral Health is a private-pay, out-of-network psychiatric and therapy practice in the Chicago metro serving children, adolescents, adults, and families through diagnostic evaluation, medication management, and psychotherapy delivered via two physical offices and statewide Illinois telehealth.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Outpatient Mental Health Services

NAICS

Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (621420), Offices of Physicians, Mental Health Specialists (621112)

SIC

Services-Offices & Clinics Of Doctors Of Medicine (8011), Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Integrated Behavioral Health (Collaborative Care) Platforms (HLALAEAC)

Keywords

• Outpatient psychiatric services
• Psychotherapy and counseling
• Child adolescent psychiatry
• Medication management services
• Telehealth mental health

Headquarters

HQ city

Northbrook

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Clinical Services Revenue: North Star Behavioral Health operates as a private-pay practice that does not contract with insurance companies. Payment is due at the time of service. The practice provides superbill statements for potential out-of-network insurance reimbursement. Patients also pay the North Star Care Standard, an annual practice membership fee that supports between-visit work including coordination, secure messaging, after-hours availability, and operational infrastructure.
2. Consultation Services: Dr. Gimbel offers one-time second-opinion psychiatric consultations for individuals navigating complex or confusing treatment situations. These are time-intensive evaluations that include advance review of records, an extended consultation, and a written summary with impressions and recommendations. This service does not include ongoing treatment, prescribing, or follow-up care.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

North Star Behavioral Health is an out-of-network private-pay psychiatric and therapy practice providing diagnostic evaluation, medication management, and psychotherapy for children, adolescents, adults, and families in the Chicago area and via statewide Illinois telehealth. Care is organized through the North Star Care Standard membership structure, which supports unhurried appointments, continuity with the same clinician, and between-visit services such as coordination, secure messaging, and after-hours availability.

Product overview

North Star Behavioral Health is a private-pay psychiatric and therapy practice offering diagnostic evaluation, medication management, and psychotherapy for children, adolescents, adults, and families. The practice operates as a single unified service model organized around the 'Thoughtful Psychiatry' philosophy and 'North Star Care Standard' membership structure. Services are delivered through two physical office locations (Northbrook primary office and Chicago downtown satellite) plus telehealth throughout Illinois. The practice includes a dedicated child/adolescent division called North Star Kids, and offers second-opinion psychiatric consultations through founder Dr. Gimbel. Beyond direct patient care, the practice produces educational content including the edited book collection 'The Hard Work of Healing,' Dr. Gimbel's authored books 'Staying in the Work' and 'Just Right Here,' the video series 'North Star Conversations,' and the written educational series 'How Suffering Works.' The practice is out-of-network for all insurance plans and operates on a private-pay model with annual practice membership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• North Star Kids: Child and adolescent division of North Star Behavioral Health providing psychiatric and therapy care for children and adolescents.

Products and services

• Psychiatric and Therapy Care Services
• North Star Kids
• North Star Care Standard
• Second-Opinion Psychiatric Consultations

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CATCH (Community Action Together for Children's Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNorth Star Behavioral Health and CATCH have partnered to foster thoughtful, accessible conversations about what real care looks like for children, parents, and communities. The partnership includes a five-part Community Q&A series with Dr. Brandon Gimbel and Dr. Rebecca Cho responding to parent questions about how psychiatrists think, listen, and decide. CATCH is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps parents and caregivers raise resilient children, founded by Amy Oberholtzer.

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Two Chairs: Two Chairs operates hybrid in-person and virtual therapy clinics with a matching-based, relationship-focused care model. Comparable to North Star's premium, continuity-oriented psychiatric care model in its emphasis on high-quality, longer-format sessions and curated therapist matching.
• Talkiatry: Talkiatry is a telepsychiatry practice that employs psychiatrists to deliver in-network and self-pay medication management and evaluation. Directly comparable to North Star's psychiatrist-led outpatient model, though at larger scale and with a different payer mix.
• Octave: Octave runs in-person therapy clinics in select metros combined with virtual services, with a focus on measurement-based care and curated clinician networks. Similar to North Star in offering premium outpatient mental health services beyond a basic platform experience.

Broad incumbents

• BetterHelp: BetterHelp is the largest direct-to-consumer online therapy platform, offering unlimited messaging and live sessions via subscription. Competes with North Star for self-pay therapy consumers, though with a digital-only model and a different therapeutic cadence.
• Lyra Health: Lyra Health is a mental health benefits platform serving employers, offering therapy, coaching, and psychiatry through a curated provider network. Overlaps with North Star's adult and family mental health services from a different distribution model (B2B benefits).
• Talkspace: Talkspace is a major online therapy and psychiatry platform serving consumers and enterprises. Comparable to North Star's telehealth psychiatry and therapy offerings, but operates at vastly larger scale with a much lower price point per session.
• Cerebral: Cerebral is a large-scale online mental health subscription platform offering therapy, medication management, and counseling. Overlaps with North Star's adult psychiatry and therapy services, but competes primarily on convenience and subscription pricing rather than unhurried, in-depth care.

Emerging players

• Klarity: Klarity is an online psychiatric provider focused on ADHD and anxiety treatment with self-pay and insurance options. Compares to North Star's adult psychiatry segment with similar self-pay exposure but a virtual-only, narrower-clinical-scope model.
• Bend Health: Bend Health is a virtual pediatric mental health provider offering therapy, psychiatry, and coaching for children and families. Comparable to North Star's North Star Kids division in clinical population and family-focused care model, with a higher degree of virtual delivery.
• Done (done.first): Done is an online ADHD-focused psychiatry/treatment provider offering self-pay evaluation and medication management. Comparable to North Star's adult psychiatry segment and private-pay positioning, though narrower in clinical scope (ADHD only) and fully virtual.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-star-bh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about North Star Behavioral Health