Therapy and psychological coaching platform HelloSelf has partnered with the NHS to potentially help hundreds of thousands of people improve their mental health and access vital wellbeing services.
HelloSelf’s platform provides personalised one-to-one therapy over encrypted video, enabling people with psychological difficulties – both individuals and their families – to access clinical help.
The pilot NHS partnership will allow therapists at the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust to offer service users the option of a referral to HelloSelf.
They will get access to HelloSelf’s full range of personalised treatment approaches, provided by leading clinical psychologists and CBT therapists, as well as the platform’s outcome-based monitoring tools and emotion trackers.
Via HelloSelf, the NHS can also pair specific needs of service users with therapists who specialise in treating those needs using the platform’s AI-powered matching tools.
It represents the firm’s first public sector partnership. Further partnerships between HelloSelf and other NHS trusts are expected to be announced shortly.
The firm was founded in 2019 by Charlie Wells after he survived a rare and usually fatal form of brain haemorrhage.
“I started HelloSelf to help make every self better,” he said. “It is estimated that 792 million people in the world are living with a mental health disorder who could benefit from personalised psychological advice.
“I’m thrilled to begin working with the NHS, an organisation which saved my life and is very dear to my heart. Together HelloSelf and the NHS can start addressing the mental health needs of so many more people.
“This partnership is a fantastic endorsement of HelloSelf’s commitment to quality outcomes.”
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Christopher Whitely, CNWL chief psychologist, said: “We were given funding from NHS England and NHS North West London to reduce our wait lists. As recruitment is a challenge, this pilot project brings additional high-quality capacity, to help more people, more quickly.
“Every person on our wait lists was reviewed to see if their presenting problem was suitable for this online therapy and that risks are manageable. If so, they are offered the option of therapy with HelloSelf.
“This is an NHS service and I am very pleased to welcome HelloSelf.”
Alongside its work with the NHS, HelloSelf provides therapy to almost 1,000 active members a week and can be accessed through self-referrals, as well as via referrals from GPs, clinicians, insurers and employers. It also looks after 250,000 employees through its employer programme which includes the likes of Fox Williams, PJT, Berkeley, BGF and Impression Media.
HelloSelf works with all leading health insurers including Zurich, AXA, Aviva, Vitality and Bupa. The company was recently selected to take part in the Tech Nation Upscale program as one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies.