Mental health founder here. What do you think of therapy?
Hello! I'm the founder of an online therapy startup Elfina Health (elfinahealth.com), where we focus on one of the most ignored aspects of therapy - the importance of the right client-therapist match. It's almost as hard as finding a partner!
If you have tried therapy before or considered therapy but never tried, I would love to know what could have been better.
Fair disclaimer: I'm not oblivious to the fact that cost is a big obstacle to quality therapy. Currently we are building for the 25-40yo age group who can afford to pay on average 2000-2500 per session. Once we gain some traction here, we will focus on affordable therapy as well.
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Tanvi - it’s not America where people seek or sought therapy, they’d rather google out if they feel they need help, and there are many open forums to discuss and it is absolutely FREE. Indian runs on discounts. I was in America for 10 years and I know the mentalities there and here 😁😁
Yes of course, Indian scene cannot be compared to America. But it's changing slowly but surely. I check Reddit often to understand sentiment and needs. There are a lot of people asking for advice, but also many many who are looking for therapist recommendations.
There are at least 20M people looking for therapy annually. Looking, not needing. Google search volume is another indicator of growing openness to therapy.
Everyone of us want help in some or the other way, it could be for different purposes, but the question is, are they ready to spend money on therapy is the question, most of times, these issues are usually addressed in front of their family unless it is too secretive or private that an individual wants to seek help privately. NIMHANS had done a survey like in February 2025 like mental health checkup, people hardly turned up to it. NIMHANS is the famous Neurology hospital if you know
I've never seen a mentally healthy individual talk about mental health.
Hahaha, I really don't know how to respond to that! I'd like to believe that I'm a mentally healthy individual! 🙆🏻♀️
No, they do! When some close friend or family member/relative has gone through a rough patch in their life, they acknowledge and advocate for the importance of good mental health.
I remember Betterhelp booking profit by their services and selling customer data too. And since then I personally don't support this service because sometimes behind the policies and ethics there comes the part of making your investors happy and that's when every firm becomes predatory.
In Indian it's very difficult to trust and I don't know if there is any law which prohibits then sharing our personal info and personal problems you can't trust indians
Last someone I knew who attempted to office themselves met with a therapist in Hyderabad's Mahatma Gandhi hospital. The therapist said there's not called depression you should sleep and eat well. At that time it really made me angry but now when I look back I am kind of 😂 ng my ass out how lightly we take mental health. Btw that friend of mine is in a better state of mind working and living his life still needs therapy but he has chosen not to goto any because he met many professionals who don't behave like a professional of the mental health field and specially towards a man.
I will suggest doing the similar model as that of astrotalk but you have to make certain changes.
I thought Astrotalk and ChatGPT are the biggest therapists in India ? Do people really want to talk to expensive humans ? I would bet an AI companion who is like a friend or guru or girlfriend will be easier for people to open up to
Posted about astro vs therapy on LinkedIn:
I know they are different. What I’m saying is most people don’t care. They want someone to listen and say simple stuff that doesn’t require effort. People don’t want to hear they should reflect on childhood and change how Ithey view people, they want to hear ki shani is in bad state and 3 pakode bakri ko khilake 3 mahine baad theek ho jayega. Feels easier . In both cases India mei life badalne wali nahi hai India mei logo ki zyada kyunki main cause of grief is a poor hyper competitive polluted country with low access to good jobs or romantic relationships 😆
I heard of therapy but had a taboo feeling. One day a team mate shared about this therapy experience openly. I was stunned. This was in 2018. Later, in 2019, I started taking therapy. It did wonders. My initial reason for therapy was losing two best friends within a year back. Both died in water related accidents. Initially I thought I went over the grief. I was damn wrong. That lack of judgement costed me so much. For example, aroud that time my start up asked to visit US for client work. It was a great opportunity. My mental health was so messed up that I didn't even apply for Visa. The founders were confused why I was not moving ahead. Well, that's one example how things got messed up. Since 2019, not just taking therapy, I started recommending to people when I felt they needed it. I was vocal in sharing it with people in my family and friends. In last 5 years, things were crazy for me. Example: Both my parents together had 6 major surgeries (Gall bladder infection, Stent in heart, cataract, prostate, knee replacements, spine surgery). I was able to handle all those because of a wonderful spouse, supporting elder brother and also therapy. Happy to share more. Email id: naveen.indala@gmail.com
There are some typos. Don't mind.
- "With a year gap"
- The founder of the start-up I was working for, asked me to visit the US for client work....
@FondPants44Hi if you could help me to advise Some good therapist in India … I am really looking forward to 🙂
You need to add more option - therapy didn't help or didn't show any progress
thanks for the feedback!
Well I guess 2500 is not that much if you think if your main focus is on millennials or older generation but as genz 2000-2500 is a little extra and also I think u should build a hybrid model like online + offline both, because most people prefer offline like face to face for the comfort , interaction and privacy . If you are targeting genz the prize should be lower or introduce monthly subscription like 5 session a month for certain price, most important the therapist should open minded not very conservative
Yes focusing on 25-40 age group. But we hope to start solving for younger folks soon 💚
I recently had some anxiety issues which I’m trying to tackle myself as of now. But at some point in the last one month, I thought of seeking therapy but couldn’t find/understand whom to reach out to or what kind of therapist i should search for. I feel, at the moment, we can only search for a “psychiatrist” but i learnt (thanks to internet) there are doctors specialised in handling anxiety issues, marital conflicts etc. It will be great if there is a platform to find help based on the type of problem one is facing.
Hi, thanks for sharing Dwight. Elfina does exactly that. Lot of people who are trying to get help don't know where to start, or choose the wrong professional and give up.
At Elfina, you first do a free consultation with a therapist, whose job is to help you figure out what you need. They are not sales people, actual psychologists who would assess clinically. Give it a try when you're ready: elfinahealth.com
Thats wonderful. I will definitely try it out.
Also, how do you ensure security and privacy of client information with respect to data. Assuming you would be using some software to save clients and their session info.
we use a platform that is HIPAA compliant. PII and PHI is strictly access controlled.