Welcome.
How technology can improve our mental health is one of the most exciting horizons of our time. We are on the precipice of a new era in mental healthcare, where innovative technologies are poised to revolutionize how we understand, treat, and support mental well-being.
Welcome to our Blog, The Human Connection, where we will explore diverse perspectives on artificial intelligence, digital mental health, and how their intersection improves the most effective part of the therapeutic process: the human connection.
How We Got Here
Our journey to create Opal was not a short one. It wasn’t an idea that popped up at the dinner table, or came to us on a whim. It was the result of carefully watching how the landscapes and opinions of early digital mental health companies changed over time, learning what worked and where there was still work to be done. What we found was winning formula on how we wanted to make a difference.
Understanding Is Everything
Charting in healthcare can often feel like busywork when we don’t see clearly how it helps us. For the longest time, this documentation helped us be aware of our patients and their needs, but didn’t help us understand them on a deeper level to improve their care. But what does it mean to improve understanding? It goes further than generating progress notes, or inferring diagnostic codes. It is found between the lines (and between sessions) and most importantly, the changes and progress of the client from session to session.
Communication Is How We Build It
Opal helps solve two of the most fundamental issues in healthcare overall: patient-provider communication, and provider-provider communication. The former is more important for mental healthcare than any other discipline of healthcare, as field where relationships are the fundamental building block of the treatment.
“Opal helps solve the most fundamental challenge of mental healthcare: patient-provider communication.”
We strongly believe that therapy works because of the human connection. No AI system can replace therapy, though many may try, because those systems are not human. Clients may seek counseling for a variety of reasons, but central to them is the mutual, equal desire of human empathy.
We are delighted that you may join us on this journey.
Cole Smith, CEO
