RNZ: Mental health platform Clearhead reaches 180,000

Angela Lim is a doctor and tech entrepreneur who founded the mental health and wellbeing platform Clearhead five years ago.

In the past year, it has supported 180,000 New Zealanders, through some of the country's biggest workplaces.

These are in-person and on-line therapy sessions with qualified clinicians around the country.

Clearhead boasts a two to three day wait time for a session, and offers therapy times outside of normal working hours, to suit the client.

Dr Lim says Clearhead has never been funded by Te Whatu Ora, nor has it shown any interest.

She says it's frustrating to see how little has changed in the publicly funded mental health sector.

RNZ news is reporting today that most of the staff recruited to the 664-million-dollar scheme putting mental health advisers into GP clinics and other primary care settings have come from within the mental health sector, creating gaps in other areas.

Clearhead has just released statistics from the past year - showing what the key concerns of its users are. Not surprisingly perhaps, anxiety is number one.

To hear full interview, listen to the clip over at https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018919178/mental-health-platform-clearhead-reaches-180-000.