Applications are now closed for the 2025 Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting. The award is open to U.S.-based journalists, in any medium. It recognizes exemplary journalism that illuminates and advances the understanding of mental health issues and treatments for the illness.

The National Press Foundation and the Luv u Project established this award in 2015 to honor excellence in mental health reporting. It is named in memory of the Potomac, Maryland, philanthropist and activist. Mattingly’s family decided to establish the award in the aftermath of her tragic death in 2014.

Sarah Wildman, a writer and editor of The New York Times’ opinion section, won NPF’s 2024 Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting for her coverage on mental health implications for those who have witnessed or experienced pediatric end-of-life care and how medical teams failed to meet their needs.

This story is told through the lens of Wildman’s personal experience of her own daughter’s cancer journey and the lack of emotional support she received at the end of her life. Wildman’s daughter, Orli Wildman Halpern, was in cancer care from age 10 through 14.

The 2023 Carolyn C. Mattingly Award for Mental Health Reporting went to The Seattle Times for its series untangling the complex maze of insurance coverage for mental health conditions.

Seattle Times mental health reporter Hannah Furfaro investigated patterns of insurance denials to reveal that some patients with eating disorders were essentially given the message that they would have to starve more to get doctor-recommended care.

Lauren Frohne and Jennifer Luxton created an animated video, which NPF judges praised for “allowing a teen’s voice to be heard” regarding her experience with insurance denials.

Judges also noted Seattle Times mental health reporter Michelle Baruchman’s strong conceptual approach to telling the story of “ghost therapists” and why it seems so hard to find a therapist who will take your insurance.