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When people think of healthcare settings, images of hospitals or doctor’s offices often come to mind. Behavioral healthcare settings, which are uniquely designed to support mental health, are often overlooked. These spaces move away from the conventions of traditional healthcare environments by creating a home-like, supportive atmosphere for patients receiving mental health care.

Despite their importance, the United States now faces a significant shortage of behavioral healthcare facilities. According to The Commonwealth Fund, provider shortages are a major barrier to treatment, especially in rural areas. The U.S. currently needs an estimated 7,400 additional mental health providers to meet demand. Substance use treatment is particularly limited, with wait times for some services stretching weeks or even months, especially for children on Medicaid. People in urgent need of behavioral health support can spend hours or even days in emergency departments before receiving care. Initiatives to address this growing need deserve greater focus, placing the mental health of Americans at the forefront.

At Henricksen, behavioral health projects are among the most meaningful work we undertake. While they may not always be the most glamorous, they carry significant purpose and impact for both our team and the individuals we serve. In these projects, our top priority is always creating environments that prioritize safety, comfort, and healing for those receiving mental health care.

Read on for an inside look at the complexities of behavioral health projects and how careful planning promotes client safety, wellbeing, and project efficiency. The team shares lessons learned from past projects and how these insights continue to shape and strengthen our approach today.


Behind the Scenes: Sweeten Creek Mental Health & Wellness Center

Despite the complexity of behavioral health projects, the purpose of preserving safety for staff and patients is what keeps our team committed. One project that stands out is our work on the Sweeten Creek Mental Health & Wellness Center. This was the second of three collaborative partnerships tied to HCA facilities, and stood apart for the unique challenges that required thoughtful, creative problem-solving from our team.

For this project, furniture in unsupervised or high-risk areas was designed to be filled with sand, making each piece heavier and more stable. This approach helps prevent furniture from being moved, lifted, or used in unsafe ways, while maintaining a residential sensibility often lost with floor-mounted alternatives. Kaitlyn Compton, Senior Design Lead at Henricksen, sheds light on the challenge of ballasting furniture: “We needed 72,000 pounds of dry sand, not something you can just pick up at Home Depot in the middle of winter. The team got creative and sourced it locally from the French Broad River, making it even more meaningful to use materials from the community to help furnish a facility serving that same community.”

But the team’s challenges did not end with the sand. In many ways, that was where they truly began. Without a full understanding of the ballasted furniture, installers dragged the sand-filled pieces across the floors, causing damage beneath the steel glides. Our team removed the glides, reordered replacements, and refinished the flooring ahead of opening. This experience proved instrumental in shaping future projects. Henricksen teams collaborated with marketing to create a clear signage system indicating that ballasted items must be lifted, a solution that has since been helpful across subsequent projects as well.

Sweeten Creek and facilities like it are more important now than ever. According to Mental Health America, “The prevalence of mental health concerns among adults has not changed from 2021 to 2024. In 2024, 23.40% of adults in the U.S. experienced any mental illness (AMI) in the past year, equivalent to over 60 million people.” By prioritizing behavioral healthcare facilities like this one, we help ensure more people receive the support they truly need.


Behind the Scenes: HCA Healthcare Behavioral Health

Behavioral health projects often introduce a unique set of challenges, which our team addresses through a combination of collaboration, problem-solving, and detail-oriented design thinking. Trent Quillin, Director of Project Integration, reflects on the team’s recent work with HCA Healthcare Behavioral Health where manufacturer collaboration was critical, and where creative design solutions ultimately enhanced both patient safety and experience.

HCA Healthcare Behavioral Health, one of our largest behavioral health clients, approached us after growing frustrated with existing product standards across multiple facilities. The challenge went beyond simply swapping products, and was indicative of broader logistical issues related to the incumbent manufacturer. These included extended lead times, high production and freight costs, and repeated delays, all of which threatened overall project timelines. As Trent explains, “We collaborated closely with our trusted manufacturing partners to explore and eventually deliver better solutions. Spec Furniture, one of our key partners, went above and beyond. While their standard portfolio didn’t initially include critical patient room products, they not only developed these items to meet our client’s needs, but also incorporated them into their standard product line. This level of responsiveness and innovation exemplifies the power of true partnership, delivering comprehensive, systemwide solutions as opposed to isolated fixes.”

Another solutions-oriented design session presented a different challenge: creating adolescent group therapy rooms that were multi-functional for a wide range of therapeutic needs. “The goal was to create a space that serviced a diverse range of patients while feeling less institutional, and more therapeutic,” Trent shares. “Through collaborative discussions, we determined that incorporating a mix of seating styles and materials would provide flexibility and comfort. Because the space was always staffed, we had greater freedom to introduce design elements that balanced safety with warmth. Working alongside the client’s art consultant, we carefully selected colors that supported a calming, healing environment—bringing their vision to life.”

As behavioral health design and space planning continues to evolve, emerging trends are influencing the ways in which projects are planned and delivered. According to Behavioral Health News, increased integration of behavioral and physical health services and a growing emphasis on youth mental health are redefining how care environments must function. By expanding product standards through close manufacturer collaboration, we reduced delays and improved overall operational efficiency, a critical consideration as integrated care models increase demand on facilities teams. Meanwhile, recent collaborative typology visioning for adolescent group therapy rooms reflects a renewed focus on youth mental health, and the prioritization of flexibility in a more therapeutic, non-institutional atmosphere that promotes emotional safety. Together, these projects highlight the role of strategic adaptability and strong team relationships with manufacturers and design partners in resolving the experiential and logistic challenges associated with behavioral health environments.


Navigating Challenges: Standards, Approvals, and Project Hurdles

As a contract furniture dealer, our team is not on site for every project, which makes clear communication essential. Each step must be thoughtfully explained, and everyone involved needs to understand why the details matter. In behavioral health projects, considerations extend far beyond aesthetics and function. Safety is layered into every decision and requires constant balance. Even elements that appear secure can introduce risk if they are not carefully designed and implemented.

Floor mounting may sound straightforward, but it locks in decisions about how a given space functions long term. Once a piece is floor mounted, there is no easy reversal. Flooring is cut, holes are drilled, and flexibility is lost. When discussing preferences, Kaitlyn Compton shared that the team typically recommends ballasting over floor mounting because it allows for greater mobility and future change, while also feeling less institutional.

From a logistical standpoint, behavioral healthcare projects present significant challenges due to the need for highly specialized products. Trent Quillin highlighted this complexity, noting that behavioral health projects require ligature-resistant fixtures, tamper-proof hardware, and durable finishes, all of which often have limited availability and longer lead times. The Henricksen team addresses these challenges through early engagement with manufacturers to confirm stock and lead times, along with strong vendor relationships that help keep critical project timelines on track.

Another key consideration is the approval process for behavioral health projects. This process is rigorous, as these environments must meet strict safety standards: including anti-ligature requirements, fire codes, and infection control measures. As a result, product selection is limited to items that meet these criteria, which also impacts project timelines. Working within a customer’s standard product lists helps streamline approvals, as all items have already been vetted for performance and durability.


Looking Ahead: Innovating Solutions for Behavioral Health Projects

According to the National Library of Medicine, there is increasing recognition that mental health facilities must balance safety with a therapeutic atmosphere. At Henricksen, we are not just a dealership; we take pride in acting as problem solvers and collaborative partners, working with facilities to create peaceful, supportive environments.

Every behavioral health project provides valuable insights that help us continuously improve and deliver better outcomes for our clients. Lessons from past and current projects continue to shape our approach in key ways. We initiate compliance checks early to avoid costly redesigns, maintain proactive communication with installation teams to align on proper installation, timelines, and safe site conditions, and provide customers and end users with both care and maintenance guidelines to maximize the longevity and performance of their furniture. These practices ensure that each new project benefits from accumulated experience, resulting in safer, more efficient, and more sustainable environments.

For us, safety is not just a box to check, it is embedded in every decision. We balance durability with comfort to create therapeutic spaces, vet every product for compliance, develop customized solutions for varying risk levels, and ensure anchoring and assembly meet anti-tamper standards.

Behavioral health spaces are just one of the many types of projects we take on at Henricksen, but they hold a special place in our hearts because of the meaningful impact they have. Through careful planning, attention to detail, and a commitment to continuous improvement, we create environments that are safe, durable, and designed to truly support healing.