Are you ready to discover the healing power of therapy!

Pause is a mental health service platform that seeks to address mental health through building community, therapy, and access to free resources provided by licensed mental health professionals.

The Problem

• Literature suggests that minorities and inhabitants of rural areas differ in experience when compared to urban areas and non-minorities. Specifically, the differences in experience that people with mental illness face can be attributed to accessibility, availability, and acceptability of mental health services. These variables lead minorities, rural residents, and the uninsured with mental health needs to; enter care later in the course of their disease than do their peers; enter care with more serious, persistent, and disabling symptoms; and require more expensive and intensive treatment It is also speculated that these differences in experience contribute to the increased rates of suicide in rural communities. Pause provides affordable, accessible, and culturally competent care to address these disparities.
• In an October 2020 report, an average of 1.6 billion daily users on social platforms that are directly engaging in the community-based products (i.e. groups, lives, stories) and 2.7 billion monthly users. It is evident that people need to feel connected and have a sense of belonging. This is not a new phenomenon as the psych field spoke in-depth about the importance of community and belonging, in fact, it is seen as a human need like the need for food and shelter. Belonging is primal and fundamental to our sense of happiness and well-being. Social connectedness not only acts as a protective factor for mental illness, research has shown that social connectedness is related to lower blood pressure rates, better immune responses, and lower levels of stress hormones – all of which contribute to the prevention of chronic disease.
• A recent survey on teletherapy provider attitudes revealed that 43% were unhappy with the compensation. With the average pay per hour being $15-$30 compared to $60-$120 costumer cost, there is a clear disproportions in compensation.

The Solution

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• Pause aims to offer a new approach to telemental health through centering both the client and the therapist. Because we (the founders) are licensed therapists we understand the importance of quality care and treating our therapists with decency through providing a functional platform and fair wages. With that said, we make sure ALL of Pause visitors have access to mental health resources regardless if they are able to pay for services or not. In addition, we offer group therapy which allows us to provide packages at a reduced rate which increases service accessibility.
•  Unlike most mental telehealth platforms, Pause centers its services around building digital communities, through our flagship services: online group therapy and therapeutic milieus. Psychological research has shown that perceived social connectedness has a significant impact on an individual’s overall mental health. Moreover, it has been shown to be a protective factor for those most at risk of suicide. Pause also requires their therapists to provide proof of their expertise areas through certifications and training documentation. In addition, 3 hours of diversity and multicultural training is required yearly.

Our Campaign Goals

We are seeking funding to help propel our service beyond preliminary launch and hire our first team of contract therapists while sponsoring 100 clients. Our goal is to serve and since we are 100% client-centered in our theory and model of intervention we would like our seed round to directly impact the community-at-large while compensating our therapist above market rate.

We also have a heavy marketing plan that we plan to showcase how Pause is revolutionizing the teletherapy space.

Pause is growing and we are gearing up to hire a few employees to assist in our growth, scaling, marketing and ensuring that Pause is the go-to service for teletherapy.