Therapify is a mobile application designed to help depressed people. It was first conceived by Łukasz Pstrong, a graduate of the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków, and developed over the course of the last two years with collaborators from his university, the Jagiellonian University, and SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw.
‘We hope that through our work we’ll be able to popularise preventive care and increase the effectiveness of treatment of mental illnesses in Poland and Europe’, said Łukasz Pstrong. Therapify will provide a quick and reliable way of communication between patients and their therapists and caregivers. By monitoring the mood, anxiety level, and activities of a person, therapists will acquire real-time data for further analysis within the framework of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). ‘Additionally, is a patient stops using the app, it will be a clear signal for their caregivers to check on their well-being. Patients will be free to assess their own level of stress (on a scale from 1 to 6) and anxiety (none, low, medium, high)’, explained Łukasz Pstrong.
Therapify will be available for all therapists interested in distributing it free of charge amongst their patients. It was designed in strict cooperation with several clinics.
There are a few similar ideas around the world (USA, Germany, Denmark, Sweden), but none of them are as advanced as Therapify. It is also the only one dedicated to professionals who aim to use it in cognitive behavioural therapy. The authors of the app plan to further develop its advanced data analysis techniques and introduce AI-based solutions.
The application will be available for iOS and Android in March 2019 – at first, only in Poland, but the designers plan on expanding their service to other countries in Europe and the world (USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Australia, and the Scandinavian countries), where virtual therapy is becoming more and more popular.
Therapify evolved from a series of meetings of several students from the Kraków start-up community, where both the Jagiellonian University and AGH University of Science and Technology maintain strong presence. What are their plans for the future? ‘We hope Therapify becomes available all around the world and revolutionises psychological treatment as we know it’, said Łukasz Pstrong.
