5 ms·

Show HN: Free Service to Find a Therapist

34 points by dhruvmanchala 7y ago

dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Hi everyone, Our company, Neb, offers a free service to help you find a mental healthcare provider. You can submit a form or schedule a phone call to explain your needs and we come back to you with a few available matches within a week. * we personally call all providers first to ensure they're available and a fit * therapists and providers who can prescribe medication * specialty, availability, culture, and other factors are taken into account * in-network or affordable options if needed * we can call your insurance on your behalf to help you understand your coverage * based in San Jose, available anywhere in California We formed our company in January and launched with another idea in mental health in June. We just finished Startup School, and launched this service last month. We’ve had 20 users for this service so far. We did a lot of user interviews and found that the process of finding a mental healthcare provider is really complicated. You have to reach out to a lot of providers, it takes time, you have to call people, information online is outdated, and people don’t know what to look for. If you want help looking for a therapist, please check out our website (www.neb.health). Otherwise, feel free to ask us any questions. Thanks!
- csunbird 7y ago
  What is your source of revenue? How do you make money from this ?
  - jaysh 7y ago
    Curious to know this too. It doesn't seem unreasonable to grow the service to a model eventually where e.g. you charge a fixed price and get an initial consultation with a therapist + their research and setup as a single fee.
    - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
      We aren't planning to charge users at the moment, actually, that's too much friction. We would charge mental healthcare providers.
  - RandomBacon 7y ago
    Usually referral fees. Be careful with referral agencies: https://www.recoveryanswers.org/resource/scams-corruption-addiction-industry-explained/ https://www.recoveryanswers.org/resource/scams-corruption-ad...
  - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
    We aren't making any money right now. We want to charge a subscription fee for therapists down the line, but we want to first perfect our solution.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Good: the form claims to be HIPAA-compliant, and doesn't seem to be doing evil stuff. Bad: my uBlock Origin blocked 8 resources on the page, including scripts from Google and Facebook.
  - dewey 7y ago
    How would you know it's doing evil stuff from the outside though?
    - cfitz 7y ago
      Including the Google Analytics library and Facebook Pixel on your site at the very least sends each and every pageview back to both of those entities. If the developer has implemented custom conversions, even further behavior is tracked.
      - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
        What are your thoughts on having those pageviews tracked? We could turn them off if people weren't comfortable.
    - TeMPOraL 7y ago
      I wouldn't, but the last time we had a story here where mental health websites were sending sensitive data to advertisers, they did it in such a dumb way you could spot it easily on the network tab of your browser's dev tools. Haven't seen anything like here in my brief look.
      - kube-system 7y ago
        Other than the fact that Facebook and Google know that you’re looking for therapists...
      - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
        The form, where we collect user data, is not hosted by us, and is hosted by a HIPAA-compliant vendor. What particular data was being shared in your story?
- compuguy 7y ago
  > based in San Jose, available anywhere in California* Hopefully you will expand this service to other states, especially ones on the east coast...
  - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
    We plan to!
vlindos 7y ago
Hi, My name is Vladimir Moushkov, the author of https://rod.run https://rod.run is here. Rod Run is teleconsultations platform of next generation putting the focus on the specialists providing the consultations as entrepreneur. We just started with the Bulgarian market. Believe yours and ours platforms could help each other in mutually benefitial partnership. Let me know if you think we could do that.
frereubu 7y ago
I think this should have "in California" at the end of the title for clarity.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  Ya, I should have done that. I don't know how to edit it now though.
throw_away_8080 7y ago
I can't help but mention the word "neb" is used as slang for this https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nebach https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nebach in a some Jewish communities.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  Haha, didn't know that.
brookside 7y ago
There are similar services/startups in NYC i've interacted with. My experience was it is fruitless endeavor trying to find a therapist that actually practices CBT for less than 200/hr.
- skinnymuch 7y ago
  How are the therapists at the lower rates otherwise?
  - brookside 7y ago
    In my experience, bad. For me, it seems crazy in the year 2020 that a therapist wouldn't introduce basic analytics into the process with something like a brief mood survey after each session to know if therapy is ...for lack of a better term..."working". Zero therapists I've found via the NYC therapist-finder sites do this. https://feelinggood.com/tag/evaluation-of-therapy/ https://feelinggood.com/tag/evaluation-of-therapy/
    - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
      Yup, we agree user feedback and monitoring are really helpful - hopefully the profession gets to that point.
      - brookside 7y ago
        Not to sound too frustrated here, but these CBT techniques are now 40 years old. So hoping the profession slowly comes around seems too mild of a take for me.
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  Do you mind mentioning the services you've used? I've heard of https://zencare.co/ https://zencare.co/ We aren't a directory - we will call/email therapists for you to ensure anyone we recommend to you is available and a fit. We have called 50+ therapists for some users. The problem with the directory model is you still have to reach out to each therapist individually. And ya, a lot of therapists have CBT thrown in as a buzzword - we screen for that when we talk to therapists if a user wants a CBT therapist.
jimmyvalmer 7y ago
The site appeared as "Find the right rapist, free" because the width of my browser cut off the static text in the splash graphic. Not a joke, not an exaggeration. My browser width is fairly standard.
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  ...I see what you mean. Changed the copy for now, and we have to fix the wrapping later. Thanks!
vwcx 7y ago
Honest questions: -why should I use your service when most therapists will still want to talk with me before taking me on as a patient, repeating the same problems I am facing and evaluating whether we make a good fit? -In my experience, a service like Psychology Today is good for narrowing certain qualitatives about a therapist. The challenge isn’t finding a therapist practicing CBT or Gestalt techniques, it’s finding someone I connect with human to human. Is this something your service makes easier?
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  Thanks for asking! It sounds like you are a lot more informed about mental healthcare than a lot of people, which is great. Generally, most people don't know what to look for in terms of style or fit, and we're a lot more robust with our search. To answer your questions: 1. We almost always have to reach out to 20+ therapists, and routinely reach out to 30, 40, 50 to find someone with availability and a couple of criteria the user specifies (e.g. good with immigrants, or available Tuesday mornings). Also if someone wants an in-network provider. 2. This would be great, and are thinking about asking providers and users what their communication styles are as a first step. How would you like us to address this? What questions about the therapist would you like answered upfront?
Descartes1 7y ago
This is a crowded space with A-list players like Psychology Today. How do you differentiate yourselves?
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  The process of finding a mental healthcare provider is time-consuming and overwhelming, and directories like Psychology Today are just a starting point. You have to reach out to 15-20 therapists to find an available match, and Psychology Today doesn't help you with that. We will reach out to 20+ therapists for you. Also, we have a phone call with each therapist before we recommend them to you to ensure they're available and meet your criteria as best as possible.
m3tr0s 7y ago
Great service, I advice you to take a look on your page from an iPad, about the whole left half of the landing page's top area is out of the viewport by default.
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  Thanks, we need to fix that.

34 points by dhruvmanchala 7y ago

Hi everyone, Our company, Neb, offers a free service to help you find a mental healthcare provider. You can submit a form or schedule a phone call to explain your needs and we come back to you with a few available matches within a week. * we personally call all providers first to ensure they're available and a fit * therapists and providers who can prescribe medication * specialty, availability, culture, and other factors are taken into account * in-network or affordable options if needed * we can call your insurance on your behalf to help you understand your coverage * based in San Jose, available anywhere in California We formed our company in January and launched with another idea in mental health in June. We just finished Startup School, and launched this service last month. We’ve had 20 users for this service so far. We did a lot of user interviews and found that the process of finding a mental healthcare provider is really complicated. You have to reach out to a lot of providers, it takes time, you have to call people, information online is outdated, and people don’t know what to look for. If you want help looking for a therapist, please check out our website (www.neb.health). Otherwise, feel free to ask us any questions. Thanks!

csunbird 7y ago
What is your source of revenue? How do you make money from this ?
- jaysh 7y ago
  Curious to know this too. It doesn't seem unreasonable to grow the service to a model eventually where e.g. you charge a fixed price and get an initial consultation with a therapist + their research and setup as a single fee.
  - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
    We aren't planning to charge users at the moment, actually, that's too much friction. We would charge mental healthcare providers.
- RandomBacon 7y ago
  Usually referral fees. Be careful with referral agencies: https://www.recoveryanswers.org/resource/scams-corruption-addiction-industry-explained/ https://www.recoveryanswers.org/resource/scams-corruption-ad...
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  We aren't making any money right now. We want to charge a subscription fee for therapists down the line, but we want to first perfect our solution.
TeMPOraL 7y ago
Good: the form claims to be HIPAA-compliant, and doesn't seem to be doing evil stuff. Bad: my uBlock Origin blocked 8 resources on the page, including scripts from Google and Facebook.
- dewey 7y ago
  How would you know it's doing evil stuff from the outside though?
  - cfitz 7y ago
    Including the Google Analytics library and Facebook Pixel on your site at the very least sends each and every pageview back to both of those entities. If the developer has implemented custom conversions, even further behavior is tracked.
    - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
      What are your thoughts on having those pageviews tracked? We could turn them off if people weren't comfortable.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    I wouldn't, but the last time we had a story here where mental health websites were sending sensitive data to advertisers, they did it in such a dumb way you could spot it easily on the network tab of your browser's dev tools. Haven't seen anything like here in my brief look.
    - kube-system 7y ago
      Other than the fact that Facebook and Google know that you’re looking for therapists...
    - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
      The form, where we collect user data, is not hosted by us, and is hosted by a HIPAA-compliant vendor. What particular data was being shared in your story?
compuguy 7y ago
> based in San Jose, available anywhere in California* Hopefully you will expand this service to other states, especially ones on the east coast...
- dhruvmanchala 7y ago
  We plan to!

vlindos 7y ago

Hi, My name is Vladimir Moushkov, the author of https://rod.run https://rod.run is here. Rod Run is teleconsultations platform of next generation putting the focus on the specialists providing the consultations as entrepreneur. We just started with the Bulgarian market. Believe yours and ours platforms could help each other in mutually benefitial partnership. Let me know if you think we could do that.

frereubu 7y ago

I think this should have "in California" at the end of the title for clarity.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Ya, I should have done that. I don't know how to edit it now though.

throw_away_8080 7y ago

I can't help but mention the word "neb" is used as slang for this https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nebach https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=nebach in a some Jewish communities.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Haha, didn't know that.

brookside 7y ago

There are similar services/startups in NYC i've interacted with. My experience was it is fruitless endeavor trying to find a therapist that actually practices CBT for less than 200/hr.

skinnymuch 7y ago
How are the therapists at the lower rates otherwise?
- brookside 7y ago
  In my experience, bad. For me, it seems crazy in the year 2020 that a therapist wouldn't introduce basic analytics into the process with something like a brief mood survey after each session to know if therapy is ...for lack of a better term..."working". Zero therapists I've found via the NYC therapist-finder sites do this. https://feelinggood.com/tag/evaluation-of-therapy/ https://feelinggood.com/tag/evaluation-of-therapy/
  - dhruvmanchala 7y ago
    Yup, we agree user feedback and monitoring are really helpful - hopefully the profession gets to that point.
    - brookside 7y ago
      Not to sound too frustrated here, but these CBT techniques are now 40 years old. So hoping the profession slowly comes around seems too mild of a take for me.
dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Do you mind mentioning the services you've used? I've heard of https://zencare.co/ https://zencare.co/ We aren't a directory - we will call/email therapists for you to ensure anyone we recommend to you is available and a fit. We have called 50+ therapists for some users. The problem with the directory model is you still have to reach out to each therapist individually. And ya, a lot of therapists have CBT thrown in as a buzzword - we screen for that when we talk to therapists if a user wants a CBT therapist.

jimmyvalmer 7y ago

The site appeared as "Find the right rapist, free" because the width of my browser cut off the static text in the splash graphic. Not a joke, not an exaggeration. My browser width is fairly standard.

dhruvmanchala 7y ago
...I see what you mean. Changed the copy for now, and we have to fix the wrapping later. Thanks!

vwcx 7y ago

Honest questions: -why should I use your service when most therapists will still want to talk with me before taking me on as a patient, repeating the same problems I am facing and evaluating whether we make a good fit? -In my experience, a service like Psychology Today is good for narrowing certain qualitatives about a therapist. The challenge isn’t finding a therapist practicing CBT or Gestalt techniques, it’s finding someone I connect with human to human. Is this something your service makes easier?

dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Thanks for asking! It sounds like you are a lot more informed about mental healthcare than a lot of people, which is great. Generally, most people don't know what to look for in terms of style or fit, and we're a lot more robust with our search. To answer your questions: 1. We almost always have to reach out to 20+ therapists, and routinely reach out to 30, 40, 50 to find someone with availability and a couple of criteria the user specifies (e.g. good with immigrants, or available Tuesday mornings). Also if someone wants an in-network provider. 2. This would be great, and are thinking about asking providers and users what their communication styles are as a first step. How would you like us to address this? What questions about the therapist would you like answered upfront?

Descartes1 7y ago

This is a crowded space with A-list players like Psychology Today. How do you differentiate yourselves?

dhruvmanchala 7y ago
The process of finding a mental healthcare provider is time-consuming and overwhelming, and directories like Psychology Today are just a starting point. You have to reach out to 15-20 therapists to find an available match, and Psychology Today doesn't help you with that. We will reach out to 20+ therapists for you. Also, we have a phone call with each therapist before we recommend them to you to ensure they're available and meet your criteria as best as possible.

m3tr0s 7y ago

Great service, I advice you to take a look on your page from an iPad, about the whole left half of the landing page's top area is out of the viewport by default.

dhruvmanchala 7y ago
Thanks, we need to fix that.