Israel’s mental health crisis fuels AI-powered platform bridging months-long wait for

Israel’s mental health system has been under growing strain for years, a crisis that has sharply intensified since the October 7 war. As more people seek psychological help, waiting times in the public system have stretched to months, sometimes longer.

Into that gap steps a new Israeli development called WellPlay, a digital self-support platform based on psychodrama principles and enhanced by artificial intelligence. Its goal is not to replace therapy, but to provide structured, guided emotional support during the most vulnerable period: the long wait before treatment begins.

Waiting times in the public system have stretched to months, sometimes longer

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The platform recently placed among the top 10 initiatives in a health innovation competition run by the Reboot Forum in cooperation with Yedioth Ahronoth Group and ynet, raising a central question: how can immediate mental health support be made accessible when the system cannot keep up with demand?

“The idea came directly from working with patients and confronting waiting lists,” said Aviv Kushnir, founder and CEO of WellPlay. A researcher and therapist with a decade of experience in Israel’s public mental health system, Kushnir recalls a patient he encountered in 2021 who waited nearly eight months for therapy while in severe emotional distress.

“During that time, her condition deteriorated,” he said. “She eventually admitted herself to a closed psychiatric ward at Ichilov Hospital. When I met her after her discharge, she reconstructed the three months before hospitalization. She had no access to private therapy. That sense of helplessness was devastating.”

According to Kushnir, the case was not exceptional but emblematic of a system under prolonged strain. Mental distress, he said, is no longer marginal. Demand has surged while the public system struggles to provide timely, continuous care.

Aviv Kushnir, founder and CEO of WellPlay

He points to three major pressure points: the 2015 mental health reform, which improved accessibility but did not prepare the system for a dramatic rise in demand; the COVID-19 pandemic, which deepened loneliness and depression; and the trauma of October 7, which has further overwhelmed services.

“A broken leg can’t wait months for treatment,” Kushnir said. “A psychological fracture is often just as acute.”

WellPlay is built on psychodrama, a therapeutic method developed in the early 20th century by psychiatrist Jacob Levy Moreno. Unlike talk therapy, psychodrama emphasizes action, visualization and real-time encounters with emotional conflicts.

“Instead of talking about anxiety or depression, the patient meets it,” Kushnir explained. “You imagine your anxiety as a person. How does it look? What does it say to you? And what do you want to say back?”

WellPlay translates these principles into a guided digital experience lasting about 20 to 25 minutes. Using a tablet, laptop or smartphone, users move through five stages: focusing on a specific issue, emotional warm-up, scene-building, dialogue with the problem and role reversal, where the user responds from the perspective of the distress itself.

An animated scene is created, allowing a tangible, visual encounter with the emotional difficulty. Users record their responses, listen back and engage in a structured, guided exchange.

“The goal is to stop deterioration and restore a sense of agency,” Kushnir said. “Psychodrama is based on the idea that people have the capacity to heal themselves. We help them reconnect with that strength.”

Kushnir stresses that WellPlay is not intended to replace human therapy. “It’s a bridge,” he said. “A critical one. People can go months without seeing anyone. This tool helps hold them during that time.”

The platform may also complement ongoing therapy, providing additional support between weekly sessions, or serve as an anchor after treatment ends, when public coverage expires but emotional needs persist.

The platform allows patients to confront themselves

(Photo: Shutterstock)

A pilot program was completed at Shalvata Mental Health Center, followed by expansion into five family clinics in northern Israel. Family physicians, Kushnir noted, now see a sharp rise in patients presenting psychological distress, about 30 percent of visits since October 7.

The idea is that doctors could prescribe WellPlay digitally as an interim measure, potentially preventing deterioration and reducing pressure on psychiatric services.

Early feedback has been encouraging. Participants logged in two to three times a week on average, exceeding expectations. Some reported feeling more comfortable sharing sensitive thoughts digitally than face-to-face.

“The platform doesn’t give answers,” Kushnir said. “It helps people meet themselves in a safe, empowering way. AI supports the process, but it doesn’t replace human insight.”

Wider use within Israel’s largest health fund is planned for next year, with pilot discussions underway in the United States for 2028.

As Israel grapples with an escalating mental health crisis, WellPlay represents a growing effort to rethink how care is delivered when time itself becomes a risk factor.