A Toronto-based start-up is attempting to change the way Canadians access mental health counselling by linking clients with licensed therapists by webcam.
Founded by four University of Toronto graduates, TranQool currently has 60 Ontario therapists and is growing. It is the first such company in Canada.
TranQool CEO Chakameh Shafii said her company emphasizes affordability and ease of access. It only takes several minutes for clients to sign up and they can meet with their therapist anywhere they have an internet connection.
Clients log onto the website and answer a questionnaire about their mental health before being matched with therapists best suited to their individual needs. Users can decide afterwards which therapists are best for them.
Once clients select a therapist, they can schedule counselling sessions to fit their schedule. Each therapy session costs a flat rate of $60 and services are covered under certain private health plans.
Shafii said the idea for the company came from her own negative experiences navigating private mental health services.
“I had anxiety and I really found the process of finding a therapist and then going to therapy really annoying and inefficient,” Shafii said. “I didn’t understand why I had to leave work to go to a clinic when I could have just video chatted with a therapist.”
She said her company is attempting to solve three problems with current mental health resources: patients often struggle with access to care, the costs associated with private therapy, and the degree of privacy they receive when seeking care in a clinic.
Shafii has an engineering background and was working for a Fortune 500 company before she left her job to help found TranQool. She said she wanted to provide a service that would prevent others from becoming disillusioned with the mental health system.
Shafii said the number of people seeking therapy for mental health-related issues is growing exponentially.
The demand for mental health services for Canadian youth has risen by 42 per cent between 2007 and 2014, according to Tana Nash, executive director for the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.
A recent report released by UNICEF revealed Canada’s youth suicide rate is among the highest in developed countries.
Carleton University Students’ Association’s health plan currently does not include mental health services, but plans to introduce it before the end of the school year, according to vice-president (student issues) Frena Hailekiros.
According to Maureen Murdock, the director of Health and Counselling Services at Carleton University, her office saw nearly 10,500 students in 2014 and 2015.
Second-year Carleton student Charissa Feres has previously sought mental health resources on campus. She said she sees TranQool as a viable and affordable option for students, especially those who are currently waitlisted for on-campus sessions.
“I think it’s a good idea and if it expands and increases capacity I think it would definitely lessen the load on the traditional mental health system,” said Feres, who is an executive with Carleton’s Student Alliance for Mental Health.
“I feel like these days we are moving into a more technological society,” she added. “I think it’s about time that we move into more tech based therapies,” she said.
Nash said she sees TranQool as being particularly attractive to patients living in rural areas in addition to elderly clients to whom transportation might prove problematic. She also suggested the company might be able to eventually provide counselling to first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other related mental illnesses.
Nash said she believes TranQool could address an increasing demand for mental health services.
“We know that mental health services are not where they need to be,” she said. “We have to look for creative ways to be able to provide services.”
