TherapyChat Interview: Making Online Therapy Accessible

To this day there is still a great lack of knowledge about what psychotherapy and psychological assistance services in general consist of.

Sometimes, this ignorance translates into not knowing how to make use of this valuable support for well-being, and on other occasions, it is directly reflected in a stigma, the fear of "going to the psychologist." Fortunately, with the passage of time this happens less and less, due among other things to technological advances that bring psychology closer to people.

In this case, we will speak with one of those responsible for this change in the landscape of psychotherapy and mental health services. Is about Alessandro De Sario, CEO of TherapyChat, a digital platform that connects users and psychologists so that they can easily hold video call sessions.

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Alessandro De Sario: TherapyChat as a tool to democratize psychology

Digital entrepreneur Alessandro De Sario is co-founder and CEO of

TherapyChat, a video call psychological assistance tool developed by the NextChance investment fund. In this interview he talks to us about the ideas that have shaped TherapyChat and the potential that this digital platform has in making psychology services accessible.

How did the idea of ​​developing a platform like TherapyChat come about?

Since I graduated from the University I have always been living abroad. Since my Master in Economics, which I did between Turin, Paris and London, until my last job in Berlin, I have lived more than 10 years away from my country. The idea of ​​launching TherapyChat has been with me for all these years.

At many times, while I was traveling through Latin America, Asia or the Middle East for work, it was impossible for me to go to my doctor's office. usual psychologist and on several occasions I tried to find alternatives in my native language that could also be adapted to my work schedule. job. It was impossible for me.

This is how in 2016 the opportunity to undertake in this sector arose in the hands of the Spanish fund NextChance, to solve a problem problem that, like me, many other people have felt: the lack of accessibility of psychology for the citizen of a foot.

Studying the market, I realized that the lack of accessibility is not the only problem that the psychology sector, but there is also a great social stigma that clouds the concept of mental health in general.

This is how TherapyChat was born, with the aim of democratizing and normalizing psychology, removing the traditional social stigma that surrounds therapy and making it possible for anyone to access qualified professionals in a more comfortable, flexible, safe and affordable.

What is the mode of operation of TherapyChat, in its current version?

TherapyChat puts the best mental health professionals in contact with people seeking psychological support from the comfort of their home, in a totally private and secure way.

The first step consists of a conversation with our virtual assistant, Chloe. Cloe is a chatbot that we have developed internally and that asks the user a series of questions to evaluate each situation as objectively as possible.

Once Cloe detects the type of specialty that the user requires based on his answers, he is asked to select one of the plans offered by the platform.

From there, the most suitable professional is assigned according to each case.

Once the user is assigned a professional, Chloe disappears and the exclusive and personal relationship with the psychologist begins. This is the only one that will treat and interact with the user in video call format during the therapy process, which may vary in duration depending on each case.

From your point of view, what sets TherapyChat apart from other online counseling services?

As the leading online psychology platform in Spain, the TherapyChat service guarantees the highest quality by digitizing the face-to-face process, so that it can be carried out comfortably and safely.

Several decisions derive from this principle of maximum quality that governs our way of working. On the one hand, while many platforms make use of chat, at TherapyChat we work exclusively for video call, since it is the method that has been most effective in creating a good alliance therapy.

On the other hand, and unlike other competitors, we have decided to focus only on those areas in which it is demonstrated that online therapy is effective, leaving aside those disorders for which sessions are necessary face-to-face

Finally, and in comparison with other platforms, for TherapyChat the process of selection and management of psychologists who collaborate with us in order to offer maximum professionalism to our users.

For this we carry out a screening and verification of the curriculum vitae that we receive, we organize several interviews both by telephone as face-to-face and/or by video call, and we monitor the performance of each psychologist based on the satisfaction of their patients.

In this time that it has been running, what are the main successes and the main challenges that the development team has gone through?

In the first 4 years of activity, TherayChat has reached several milestones, the most important being its consolidation as a leader in online psychology in the Spanish market, having reached more than 200,000 users since its launch.

It is also interesting to mention the acceleration of its growth, especially in the month of May, in which more than 25,000 people in the App who have made more than 6,000 weekly video calls thanks to our more than 200 psychologists assets.

Among all these users who have gone through TherapyChat, we remember with joy the successes of those who, thanks to our platform, have been able to recover your well-being despite your circumstances, such as living in a country like China or Ethiopia where it is practically impossible to receive therapy in Spanish.

Among our main challenges, and related to this last point, is expanding our base of psychologists to cover a greater number of languages ​​and thus be able to provide services in other countries where psychological therapy is equally sued.

On the other hand, and also related to our mission, is the challenge of reducing the stigma that psychology has in general, since it does not it is only about growing in geographic availability, but also about reducing the psychological barriers that exist in society to that more people than today do not go to therapy for fear of what they will say, can approach it without fear and away from any prejudice.

Until not so long ago online therapy was considered a rarity from the point of view of the general public. How have you adapted to make the service accessible to everyone?

At TherapyChat we believe that the psychologist's role is essential in people's lives. Just as a doctor can treat an injury or illness, a psychologist can correct mental problems to make us feel better.

However, although healing physical wounds has historically been considered a paramount need, mental health has been strongly stigmatized. Our goal is that anyone who wants to feel better has the tools at their disposal to do so.

Although in recent years, and especially since the confinement imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Spanish society has begun to normalize the taboo of psychology, even so, there is still a long way to go in the field of his destigmatization.

In this sense, from platforms such as TherapyChat we work to accelerate change. On the one hand, we believe that the best way to eliminate stigma is by demonstrating the effectiveness of the service, which is why we invest strongly in improving both our product (our App) and in managing and selecting the psychologists who collaborate with us.

On the other hand, we also invest heavily in both digital and traditional media and we encourage word of mouth with referral programs, gift cards, etc.

Finally, and as a result of the interest shown by many Human Resources directors during the pandemic, we are developing a B2B program, through a portal for companies that will allow any organization to customize its own offer and choose the number of sessions that she wants to offer her workers, helping them to more easily take the necessary steps to feel good.

What are the main goals you set for yourself?

At TherapyChat we are continually working to improve the experience of our users. In line with our goals to normalize and destigmatize psychology, we currently have three areas of growth planned.

On the one hand, and as we mentioned earlier, we are developing our portal for companies, for that more organizations can, along with other benefits, offer mental health plans to their workers.

On the other hand, we are studying the opportunity to launch TherapyChat in other countries which will allow us to add psychologists of different languages ​​to our platform and thus be able to serve a broader base of customers.

Finally, we continue to bet on a strong expansion in Spain, since we believe that there are still many people who are unaware of our service but could greatly benefit from it.