Mental health therapy has long been a stigma, especially in the black community, and Dan Miller is here to change that. When things began to spiral out of control in both his business and personal life, he knew that he needed to seek out a professional to address his issues, but his schedule didn’t allow for the typical doctor visit. He and co-founder, Coley Williams created Level Therapy, an app that allows users to match with qualified mental health clinicians. Long gone are the days of having to drive down to a therapist’s office, for a face-to-face session.
So what are the major perks for the consumer?
With Level Therapy, you can talk to your therapist in-app, through video chat, from the comfort of your home. In addition, employers have partnered with the app creators to supply cost-effective mental health solutions for their employees. Their first two partnerships are Teach for America and Stanford Medicine. If that’s not enough, Level Therapy gives you a free 20-minute introductory session to test out the service, in addition to making sure you are matched with the right clinician.
It all sounds great, but how will it rise above the competitors in this space?
With companies like TalkSpace and Joyable, Level Therapy hopes to position itself as the go-to app for virtual video chats via mobile by focusing on features that are more human and design-centric, flexible for the patient, and most importantly, accepting of the patient’s health insurance. At $99 a session, mental health therapy can get pricey pretty quickly.
So, what’s the verdict?
Try it. In my opinion, everyone should seek some form of psychotherapy. It’s like going to the gym. You keep your physical health strong, so why not be equally equipped mentally.