Meta and Google for therapy and psychiatry online
Mental health telehealth advertising
MedScale Health runs Meta, Google, Microsoft and TikTok ads, creative and landing pages for US therapy, psychiatry and ADHD telehealth brands, with every ad pre-checked against health policy before it spends. Therapy subscriptions, psychiatry and medication management, ADHD evaluation. Therapy is one of the most open categories in telehealth advertising. Controlled substances are one of the most closed. Most brands sell both.
How it is sold
The model, before the rules.
Therapy sells as a weekly or monthly membership with a matched clinician and video or messaging sessions. Psychiatry sells as an evaluation visit plus monthly medication management, with the prescription filled at a retail pharmacy. ADHD and anxiety programs are where the two collide: stimulants are Schedule II and benzodiazepines are Schedule IV, DEA's telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing them have been extended year by year rather than made permanent. The current extension, Federal Register document 2025-24123, runs through December 31, 2026. The platforms, the DEA and prosecutors have all learned from the telehealth stimulant cases what "get Adderall online" looks like. MedScale starts with a free growth audit; campaigns are live by Day 14 from access when certifications are in place.

How it gets restricted
Two different problems that get conflated. Therapy ads are rejected for personal-attribute framing ("feeling anxious?"), and therapy accounts get their conversion events cut off when a pixel leaks a condition through a form field or a URL. Controlled-substance ads are a separate matter: any creative or page that reads as a route to a stimulant or a benzodiazepine draws review of the whole account, and no certification makes "ADHD medication online" a safe ad. The therapy problem is solved with structure; the controlled-substance problem is solved by not running the ad.
Paid outlookRestricted
Policy by platform
Where a platform asks for LegitScript, it means LegitScript certification: the third-party check Meta and Google require before a telehealth business can name a prescription drug in an ad. It certifies the business, its prescribers and its pharmacies. It does not change what a drug is.
- Meta
- Therapy and psychiatry services can run without certification. The personal-attributes rule is the main rejection trigger: "depression counseling available" passes, "depression getting you down?" does not. Naming a prescription medication requires LegitScript certification and written authorization. Conversion-event optimization is limited once an account is classed as sensitive health, which is what a leaky pixel causes.
- Google Ads
- Therapy intent is open. A telehealth service that prescribes, including psychiatry and medication management, needs Google's prescription drug services certification before its prescription-drug ads serve, and Google judges the ads, the site and the app. Recovery-oriented drug and alcohol addiction services require certification in the US, which runs through LegitScript. Controlled-substance terms are restricted regardless of certification.
- TikTok
- Mental-health and therapy services are open for awareness. TikTok's US prescription path, updated September 2026, needs proof of FDA approval and 18+ targeting; controlled-substance promotion stays out, and claims of cure are prohibited.
Policy pages read 2026-10-05. Meta: Drugs and pharmaceuticals · Meta: Health and wellness · Meta: Personal attributes · Google: Healthcare and medicines · Google: Prescription drug services certification. Dated rule changes
What we run
The plan for mental health.
- Channels
- Google Search on care intent by service line: therapy, psychiatry, ADHD evaluation, each its own campaign and page. Meta on clinician-led and "how it works" creative. TikTok for clinician content that builds the brand.
- Creative that passes
- Care is available, here is the clinician, here is how matching works, here is the first week. Conditions named as things the service treats. Medication mentioned as "medication management with a psychiatric provider", never as a drug.
- Landing page
- Service-line pages with insurance and self-pay handled up front. ADHD pages describe evaluation and follow-up and say plainly that controlled substances are prescribed only when clinically appropriate and within state and federal rules.
- Tracking
- Server-side events with generic names, under a BAA. No name, email, phone number, IP address or browser ID reaches an ad platform, and no condition, screener score, form field or URL path either. The click ID rides into the booking platform so the completed first session, not the form, is what gets attributed.
What we measure
- CPQL
- Cost per qualified lead: intake completed, in a covered state, insurance or self-pay confirmed.
- Consult booked
- First session or evaluation scheduled, attributed to the campaign.
- Rx issued
- For psychiatry, a prescription written after evaluation, reported from the platform.
- 90-day retention
- Members still in care at month three, by service line.
Reported weekly by campaign from the tracking installed in the first two weeks. We publish the definitions, not a benchmark, because the number depends on your price, your states and your pharmacy.
Commitments
What is done by which day.
Policy read with therapy and controlled-substance exposure listed separately
Server-side tracking live with a written list of the only fields that leave the server
Therapy search and clinician-led Meta campaigns live by service line; psychiatry search once certification clears
Weekly report on CPQL, first session completed and retention by service line
Days count from kickoff. Certification timelines belong to LegitScript and the platforms, so campaigns that need drug terms start on program intent and add them when approval lands.
Mental health questions
What brands in this category ask first.
Can we advertise ADHD treatment?
Evaluation and ongoing care, yes. An ad that reads as a route to a stimulant, no. Stimulants are Schedule II controlled substances and the platforms review any creative pointing at them as a controlled-substance promotion, which puts the account at risk rather than the ad. DEA's telemedicine flexibilities for prescribing them run through December 31, 2026 under Federal Register document 2025-24123. MedScale advertises the evaluation and the clinician.
Is it HIPAA-compliant to run Meta ads for a therapy platform?
The ads are not the exposure; the tracking is. A standard pixel can send page URLs, form content and identifiers to Meta. Server-side tracking under a BAA that sends generic event names, and no names, emails, phone numbers, IP addresses or browser IDs, is the configuration every engagement runs on.
Do we need LegitScript for a therapy brand?
Not for therapy. You need it if you prescribe, since Google treats a prescribing telehealth service as prescription drug services and Meta requires it before a prescription drug can be named, and you need it for addiction-treatment services on Google.
Why did our Meta conversions disappear overnight?
The account was classed as a sensitive health category, usually because the pixel was sending a screener result, a condition in a URL, or an event named after a diagnosis. Meta cuts off optimization events for those accounts. Rebuilding delivery server-side with generic names is how the events come back.
From the answers library
Rules that decide Mental health campaigns.
Can You Advertise Mental Health Services on Meta?
As of October 2026, therapy, counseling and telehealth mental health services can advertise on Meta without authorization, because Meta exempts ads that promote telehealth services generally, and health service ads must target people 18 and over. MedScale Health, a paid ads agency for US telehealth brands and clinics, builds these accounts around the service and checks every hook against Meta's rule that no ad may imply the viewer's mental health. Naming a medication needs LegitScript and Meta's authorization, and addiction treatment needs LegitScript plus Meta's permission.
Reviewed October 24, 2026
Can You Advertise Mental Health Services on Google?
As of October 2026, therapy and psychiatry practices can run Google Search ads without certification, but remarketing, customer match and lookalike audiences are off, online prescribing needs LegitScript plus Google certification, and drug and alcohol addiction treatment needs its own certification. MedScale Health, a paid ads agency for US telehealth brands and clinics, builds mental health accounts around search intent, with broad and predefined audiences only.
Reviewed October 24, 2026
Can You Advertise ADHD Telehealth on Meta and Google?
As of October 2026, an ADHD telehealth service can advertise on Meta without authorization, but naming a stimulant needs LegitScript and Meta authorization, and on Google a provider that prescribes needs LegitScript plus Google certification before ads serve. MedScale Health, a paid ads agency for US telehealth brands and clinics, builds ADHD accounts evaluation-first, with ads about the clinicians and the evaluation rather than the medication. Stimulants are Schedule II, and remote prescribing relies on DEA flexibilities that run through December 31, 2026.
Reviewed October 24, 2026
What Does the DEA Telemedicine Rule Mean for Telehealth Ads in 2026?
As of October 2026, the DEA flexibilities that let practitioners prescribe controlled medications by telemedicine without an in-person visit run through December 31, 2026, under the fourth temporary extension (Federal Register 2025-24123). MedScale Health, a paid ads agency for US telehealth brands and clinics, plans TRT, ADHD and ketamine ads that hold up whichever way DEA rules. DEA's final special registration rule has been under OMB review since August 25, 2026, with final action listed for November 2026, and as of October 23, 2026 nothing newer is published.
Reviewed October 24, 2026
More answers on this
- What Mental Health Ad Copy Gets Approved, and What Gets Rejected?
- How Do You Advertise a Telehealth Brand on Meta Without Losing the Ad Account?
- Why Are Your Google Ads Disapproved for Telehealth, and How Do You Fix It?
- What Should You Do When Meta Restricts Your Telehealth Ad Account?
- Can Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Advertise on Microsoft Ads?
Next step
Start with the audit.
We read your live ads, landing pages and pixel against the rules on this page and send back the flags and the plan. If the account is already restricted, the rescue is the faster door.
Growth audit
See where your growth is leaking.
We audit the ads, the landing pages, the tracking and the compliance posture, then hand you the roadmap. The people writing it have run the same funnel from the inside. You keep it whether or not we work together.
- Reviewed
- Funnel, tracking, and compliance posture
- Discussed
- One 30-minute call with the operator on your account
- Delivered
- A written roadmap within 5 business days