Saundra Jain, PsyD, Shares Experience with Rejoyn, First FDA-Approved MDD App

Rejoyn (CT-152), approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on March 20, 2024, is the first prescription digital therapeutic cleared as an adjunctive treatment for adults aged ≥ 22 years with major depressive disorder (MDD) who are already taking an antidepressant.1

The digital app delivers 6 weeks of brain training exercises and short skills-based therapy lessons, integrating mindfulness, deep breathing, and psychoeducation.2 Patients can only access the app through a prescription.

“It's the first of its kind,” said psychotherapist Saundra Jain, MA, PsyD, LPC, co-founder of the WILD 5 Wellness program and an adjunct clinical affiliate for the School of Nursing at the University of Texas at Austin. Jain has prescribed Rejoyn in her office and has had it available to her for a little over 6 months. “This is a great augmentation strategy that is now available to us to share with our patients.”

Jain pointed out that often when psychotherapists treat patients, they offer a combination therapy: a pharmacological and non-pharmacological intervention, often cognitive behavior therapy. A patient may not always respond well to those interventions and may need a new type of intervention. Rejoyn can offer that new intervention.

In her practice, Jain will ask her patients if they are interested in a digital therapeutic prescription, explaining that Rejoyn is evidence-backed and different from wellness apps found on Google or the iOS platform. She said that Rejoyn improves depressive symptoms through behavioral activation, an effective, proven intervention.

Her patients found Rejoyn engaging, helpful, and sometimes challenging. A couple of patients even requested to do the program again.

The success of Rejoyn accounts for a lot of the app’s design and its accessibility. Patients can obtain a prescription for the app from their usual prescriber, or if they have not seen their prescriber in a while, through a virtual consult. Psychotherapists, psychologists, and social workers can refer someone to the Rejoyn website, where they can access the virtual consult.

“There is a place for prescription digital therapeutics in our practices when patients… are motivated to do more than simply medicines and psychotherapy… I want you to know patients like that do exist,” Jain said. “They're very engaged in their treatment, highly motivated, and will oftentimes say something to me like, ‘Hey, Saundra, I'm feeling better, but is there something else that I could be doing to feel even better?’

For more details on Rejoyn, clinicians can access the Clinician Brief Summary.3

References

1. Middleton, J. First Smartphone App to Gain FDA Approval for Depression. AAFP. April 22, 2024. https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/afp-community-blog/entry/first-smartphone-app-to-gain-fda-approval-for-depression.html#:~:text=The%20FDA%20approved%20Rejoyn%20on,or%20a%20sham%20app%20course. Accessed May 21, 2025.

2. Tap into your brain’s power to take on depression symptoms. Rejoyn. https://www.rejoyn.com/. Accessed May 21, 2025.

3. Clinician Brief Summary. Rejoyn. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rejoynhcp.com%2FClinician-Brief-Summary.pdf&psig=AOvVaw36jrBcmvK1Cv6Eoaf4VS9t&ust=1747947096383000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CAQQn5wMahcKEwiQq8C_uLWNAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQBA. Accessed May 21, 2025.