The revolutionary Psyma platform is a mental health mobile application that offers psychological therapy through a live video call, offering the advantages of flexibility, reduced waiting and travel time, access to a number of professionally trained psychologists delivering evidence based therapies and the ability to be seen within 24 hours.
Your first session is usually spent on discussing issues that have brought you to therapy. As well as developing a clear understanding of your concerns, your therapist will explore relevant background history so that they can understand you in the context of your life and early experiences. This information will allow your therapist to develop a formulation of your presenting concerns and recommend a therapeutic approach that might be helpful for your difficulties and agree on an initial number of sessions if you wish to start therapy. This assessment phase of therapy may take one or two appointments to complete.
Every person has a different journey through therapy. This is largely dependent on the nature of your difficulties and what you are hoping to gain from your sessions. Some people come to see a therapist to develop coping strategies to reduce or manage symptoms, which can be short or medium term. Others may come to therapy to understand long-standing patterns that stem from earlier experiences, or to receive ongoing support. Sometimes people come to therapy for a one off session or just a handful of sessions to speak about a specific issue in their life or to talk through a particular concern. During your initial assessment your therapist will discuss with you which therapeutic approach is likely to be most effective and the number of sessions required to achieve your goals.
No. All of our consultations are held virtually through the app.
Over the last decade numerous studies have shown video online therapy to be just as effective, and in some cases more effective, than traditional face to face therapy. For example, the findings of a meta-analysis by Barak A, Hen L, Boniel-Nissim M & Shapira N. (2008) showed strong support for the adoption of online psychological interventions.
Click the book a session icon on the home page, select a therapist, select the amount of time you wish to be seen for and finally select a time and day for your session to take place. The appointment will show up on the scheduled tab on your home page. Ten minutes prior to your session you will be sent a notification reminding you that your session will start soon, at which point you can log in to your account and click on ‘Go to waiting room’ which will notify your therapist that you are waiting.
If there are no time slots available with your chosen psychologist, please email us at admin@psyma.co.uk detailing your preferred time. We will arrange a convenient time for you both, following which the psychologist will upload an agreed slot which you can then book.
To ensure you get the most from your session we recommend that you ensure you have enough battery power, you have a strong internet connection, your sound is switched on, you select a private and quiet location and have your headphones on. Please also ensure that you have the latest version of iOS installed and the app does not require updating.
All information that you disclose in your session with your therapist is confidential. The only two exceptions to this rule are if you are at risk of harm to yourself or someone else, in which case we would be required to contact other professionals involved in your care such as your GP. The second exception is in relation to court orders. If either of these situations become relevant your therapist will discuss this with you.
We do not record any therapy sessions, they are confidential between you and your psychologist.
For ethical and professional reasons, it is good practice to have details of your GP. We will, however, not contact them unless we have your permission to do so. The only exceptions are highlighted in the confidentiality section. Please feel free to discuss this with your therapist if you have any concerns about this issue. We will respect your decision and confidentiality.
We ask for 24hrs notice in event of cancellation. If you book a session on the day of your appointment, we cannot offer a refund if you cancel the session.
Click on the scheduled tab on your home screen and slide your appointment to the left, the cancel session icon will be displayed here. Just click cancel and your therapist will be notified that the session has been cancelled.
You can email us at admin@psyma.co.uk with any queries you may have. Depending on the time of day you leave your message it may take us a few hours to get back to you. We endeavour to deal with all messages as soon as possible.
If you are looking to contact your therapist directly you can email them on the address they will have provided at your first session. Each therapist works differently so they will discuss with you the parameters of contact at your first session.
The app will automatically recognise that you are a first time user when you register and a free session will be allocated. This option will appear once you have chosen your therapist and you go to ‘Schedule a session’. You will be required to enter your card details at booking but you will not be charged for this session.
Click on your user icon at the top right hand corner of the home screen. The logout button will be located at the top right hand corner of your ‘My Account’ page.
