Moodivate

What the service is

Moodivate is a smartphone app built by Behavioral Activation Tech to deliver Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD) directly to users' phones. The app works as part of a therapy relationship, letting patients do structured homework and their therapists track progress through a secure web portal. The company was founded by Dr. Carl Lejuez, Dr. Jennifer Dahne, and Jack Kustanowitz. Unlike self-help apps, Moodivate is designed to be prescribed by a therapist and used alongside regular therapy sessions, not as a standalone tool.

How it actually works

Moodivate implements the core steps of traditional BATD, which is a structured approach where you identify life areas that matter to you, plan specific activities aligned with those values, and then track whether you complete them and how you felt doing them. The app starts with a Life Areas, Values, and Activities component (LAVA) where you enter the areas of life that matter to you and specific activities you want to complete. Once you've planned activities, you schedule them into your calendar within the app. After each planned activity has passed, you record whether you completed it and rate how important and enjoyable it was. You also record your mood once daily.

All of this data flows to your therapist through a web portal. The therapist can log in and see your scheduled activities, your completed activities, and your daily mood trends. This shared visibility is designed to improve session preparation and help the therapist spot patterns in the connection between your activities and your mood. The app eliminates the paper forms and worksheets that traditional BATD requires, which the company says increases adherence because most people carry their phones everywhere. The practice of tracking activities and mood is the core of BATD, you notice the connection between what you do and how you feel, which helps you make better choices about what to do next.

The app integrates with Epic EMR systems, meaning that if your therapist uses Epic, they can pull your mood data and activity completion rates directly into your medical record with a single click. The company mentions integrations with other systems are in progress. Your therapist can also add and manage multiple patients through the provider portal, tracking engagement and progress without paper forms or email updates. The web portal lets therapists log in to add users, manage cases, and monitor mood trends and daily use. Moodivate is designed to match all aspects of the published traditional BATD treatment manual, the same procedures, the same rationale, just digital instead of paper. The company emphasizes that having access to your data between sessions helps your therapist respond more effectively if you need contact before your next appointment, whether that's by email or phone.

What the pages prove

BATD is supported by published research. The company cites studies by Lejuez and colleagues from 2001 and 2011 showing the treatment improves symptoms of depression in patients with clinically significant conditions. The approach has also been shown to improve quality of life for people without a depression diagnosis. The underlying treatment has a published manual that describes it in detail, and the company says Moodivate follows this manual exactly. The app has 80,000 users.

The service is built for therapists to prescribe to patients, not for standalone consumer use. Therapists log into the web portal to add and manage patients. The company emphasizes several practical advantages of the app over paper forms: it's always accessible on your phone, it reduces loss or forgetting of forms, it increases privacy for patients uncomfortable with paper records, and it gives therapists better data to prepare for sessions. The provider portal tracks activities planned, activities completed, and mood trends, allowing therapists to monitor engagement between sessions. The company notes that this shared data allows for "more effective preparation for the upcoming session and availability of progress in the event that contact (e.g., email, phone) is necessary prior to the next scheduled session."

What the pages don't say

Moodivate does not publish its subscription cost or pricing model anywhere on the site. There's no information on how to get started or how to find a therapist who uses the app. The pages don't say whether you need an existing therapist to use Moodivate or whether the company can match you with one. Beyond Epic, it's unclear which EMR systems the app currently integrates with or when other integrations will launch. The company doesn't specify whether the app requires a smartphone (iOS, Android, both), whether it works offline, or what minimum internet connectivity you need.

There's no mention of age ranges or whether the app is appropriate for teenagers or children, or whether it works for depression in minors. The FAQ doesn't address whether Moodivate can be used for conditions other than depression, or whether someone without a formal depression diagnosis can use it. The pages reference published research supporting BATD but don't say whether Moodivate itself has been studied in a clinical trial, that research may be ongoing or published elsewhere. The site provides no information on regional availability or licensing, so you cannot confirm whether Moodivate is available in your state.

Who it fits and who it doesn't

Moodivate is built for people already working with a therapist who practices BATD. If your therapist recommends the app as part of your treatment plan, it will handle activity scheduling and mood tracking and give your therapist clear data about your week. It works best for people who respond to behavioral approaches, the entire method rests on the idea that depression lifts when you do activities aligned with your values, regardless of mood. If that framing makes sense to you, the app's structure and tracking will reinforce it effectively.

Moodivate is not for someone seeking a standalone depression app without a therapist. It's not for crisis support or someone needing immediate help. If you need medication management or a diagnosis, the app alone won't provide that. If your therapist doesn't practice BATD or hasn't recommended this specific app, it won't fit your treatment. Because the site doesn't specify regional licensing or availability, you cannot confirm from the pages whether Moodivate is available in your state or whether your therapist can legally integrate it into your care. That's a conversation to have with your clinician.