When external forces shake the landscape, mission-driven organizations show what they’re made of. Here’s how Kingsbury is responding to unprecedented economic challenges while staying laser-focused on making quality psychological services accessible to all families.
The Kingsbury Wellness & Learning Group has experienced remarkable growth over the past three years. Our revenue has accelerated steadily—up 6% in 2023, 15% in 2024, and over 20% in 2025. We’ve expanded our clinical team, deepened partnerships with schools and community organizations, and we’ve invested in considerable professional development for our staff. By every measure of organizational health, we’ve been building something sustainable and impactful.
But the economic ground beneath us is shifting dramatically.
Maryland has lost nearly 25,000 federal jobs in 2025—the most of any state in the nation. Montgomery County alone saw approximately 9,900 federal positions eliminated between January and November, with more than 4,000 of those losses occurring in just the final three months of the year. According to Towson University’s Regional Economic Studies Institute, which has tracked the economic fallout throughout 2025, the unemployment rate in Montgomery County climbed from 3.4% to 4.2%, and economists warn this represents just the beginning of a broader regional slowdown.
The impact reaches far beyond employment statistics. Families who previously could afford market-rate psychological services are now questioning every discretionary expense. People who desperately need therapy and testing are hesitating to invest in their mental health. The cruel irony is that during times of economic uncertainty and job loss, the need for psychological support actually increases—just as people’s ability to pay for it decreases.
Last month, we learned that the Chesapeake Center for ADHD, Learning and Behavioral Health closed its doors after 35 years of serving families in the DMV area. Founded by Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, an internationally recognized authority on ADHD, the Chesapeake Center was one of the largest private ADHD specialty clinics in the country. Their staff and the hundreds of families they served are now navigating an unexpected and difficult transition.
The Chesapeake closure serves as a sobering reminder that even respected, well-established practices face real vulnerability in today’s economic climate. No organization is immune to external forces, regardless of legacy or reputation.
Why Kingsbury Is Different
At Kingsbury, we’ve deliberately built something that operates by different principles than a typical private practice. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, our entire structure exists to serve a mission: making high-quality psychological services accessible to all families facing learning and emotional challenges.
That mission isn’t marketing language—it’s operationalized in how we function. Unlike practices that rely solely on contractors, our team is made up of almost entirely of full-time, salaried psychologists and postdoctoral residents who are invested in the Kingsbury mission. They’re here because they believe in what we’re building together.
The leadership at Kingsbury is laser focused on our long-term goal of making services affordable for all. And to keep us on track, we installed the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in the fall of 2025. EOS is a comprehensive approach to organizational leadership that infuses our everyday work with Kingsbury values, sets clear goals, monitors progress systematically, and keeps our attention focused on what matters most. Just like our clinical services, organizational management is driven by measurable results.
Strategic Investment Meets Economic Reality
In 2026, we’re navigating the tension between strategic growth investments and economic headwinds. We deliberately hired two postdoctoral residents last fall instead of our usual one, doubling our training capacity. We increased salaries to retain our exceptional team and recognize their contributions. We invested in professional development, team building, and organizational infrastructure that will serve us for years to come.
These strategic investments position us for growth even as external economic conditions require operational discipline. We’re managing this transition deliberately, investing in capacity while maintaining the fiscal discipline that has sustained us through previous challenges.
Over the next several years, we expect to continue growing our staff, revenue, and reach. We will expand our fundraising capacity, develop new partnerships, and keep pushing toward our long-term goal: No one turned away for financial reasons.
That vision doesn’t change because economic conditions get difficult. If anything, it becomes more urgent.
Building Infrastructure for Accessibility
This year we’re pursuing funding to pilot our “CoPay” program. The concept of this program is simple but transformative: eligible families pay only what they would pay as an insurance copay—$25 per therapy session or $625 for a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation (which typically costs $5,000 to $7,000 on the open market).
CoPay creates the payment structure that should exist if managed care for mental health actually worked. We expect the pilot to cost $75,000, which will enable us to provide up to 400 therapy sessions or 17 comprehensive evaluations to families who have their basic needs met but cannot afford market-rate services—families who are genuinely positioned to benefit from psychological intervention but are priced out of access.
In order to highlight the need for programs like CoPay, we are developing a white paper documenting the economic barriers that make high-quality psychotherapy essentially a boutique service available only to the wealthy. The combination of high student loan debt for mental health professionals, poor insurance reimbursement rates, high deductibles, and other systemic factors has created a landscape where the people who most need psychological support often cannot access it.
Understanding these barriers is the first step toward addressing them. That’s why we’re committed to unlocking the funding that will eventually allow us to scale our mission beyond what market-rate services alone can support.
Looking Forward
We’re clear-eyed about the challenges ahead—a contracting regional economy, tightening federal funding, and families hesitating to invest in services they desperately need. But we’re equally clear about our strengths: a dedicated team fully invested in our mission, disciplined leadership systems that keep us focused and accountable, and a nonprofit model built for long-term impact rather than quarterly profits. Kingsbury has weathered significant challenges before, and we’ve always emerged stronger because we’re building something that matters. In times like these, organizations show what they’re really made of.
We’re built for this moment, and we’re in it for the long haul.