june 2, 2026
Israel has everything, except a good way to find a therapist
Israel has over 13,000 licensed psychologists, so why is finding one so difficult? This is how Bloomlist is building the easiest way to help you find a therapist in Israel.
The accidental origin of Bloomlist
I was actually looking for an apartment when I first noticed the problem. That's where Bloomlist really started. Not with some polished inspiration on LinkedIn, but while I was doom scrolling through endless Facebook groups and WhatsApp threads. If you've ever looked for anything here, you know what I'm talking about: endless posts with people arguing in three different languages at once. But between the balagan, I kept seeing something else. A lack of mental health support and therapy posts.
Israel has over 13,000 licensed psychologists, so why is finding one so difficult? This is how Bloomlist is building the easiest way to help you find a therapist in Israel.
I scrolled past them for weeks until I finally found a place to unpack my bags, but the sheer number of posts stuck with me. It made me sad. I grew up in an Israeli household in Canada and spent the last decade living on literally every continent, but I consider this place my home. And to everyone's surprise, last month, I chose to give living out here a chance despite knowing the challenges I'll be facing.
A hot take in some of the places I've spent my 20s, but I love this country. The energy through the good times, the resilience in harder times, the way everyone feels like family (also in good and bad ways) and after experiencing +60 countries, I can tell you that people here show up for each other in ways you don't see anywhere else on this planet.
But damn, why does the infamous "Start Up Nation" have to do absolutely everything the hard way?
We are branded as one of the most innovative populations, yet, there is this chaotic, frustrating inefficiency right at our core. There is so much noise, zero structure, and our day to day needs are being managed in social media channels used by the previous generation (my aunt is #1 most active) for sending chain-mail memes.
The chaos and friction for the therapist problem, especially with everything we've been through post-October 7th, is mamash a perfect example of the 'hard way'. Except the stakes are infinitely higher.
You will survive a moldy studio apartment at Manhattan prices. Giving up on finding a therapist carries a completely different cost.
Enter Bloomlist.
So that's my why. A platform designed to help you actually find a therapist in Israel that's easy to use, and based on what matters to you, not just who you happen to know. Below you'll find some features that I'm hoping Google will pick up for SEO:
Filter by the details: Language, specialty, cultural background, and session type.
Get a vibe check: Watch a short, intro video from each therapist so you get a real sense of who they are before you book.
No more waiting: See their actual availability and book a session in minutes, not months.
What I've learned so far? According to the Israeli Ministry of Health, there are over 13,700 licensed, practicing psychologists in the country [1] — and that doesn't even include thousands more clinical social workers and specialized psychotherapists.
… and just about nothing from going from 0→100 in development. But don't stop scrolling yet.
Where We Are Right Now
Currently Bloomlist is in early access beta. Therapists are joining, our first users are on the waitlist, and honestly, watching it come together, even in this imperfect form, is the most exciting thing I've done since finding an apartment under 6000₪.
So welcome. There's so much still to build. But the problem is urgent and in Israeli fashion, I'm not waiting for perfect. I'll be writing about all of it here as we go.
Follow for the balagan → thebloomlist.co
[1] Israel Ministry of Health, Personnel in the Health Professions Report, which tracks registered, active mental health practitioners across public and private sectors in Israel.