Leading independent mental health care provider partners with Harrogate-based app
A leading mental health app, My Possible Self is focused on future opportunities after joining forces with the leading independent mental health care provider, the Priory Group.
The Harrogate-based business which has been working to make mental health support more accessible since it was founded by Joanne Wilkinson in 2009, says that the partnership highlights its innovative use of technology to deliver a holistic approach to mental health care.
Joanne Wilkinson (centre) and her daughters
This is the latest development for My Possible Self which in 2016 turned online after Wilkinson recruited her daughters Hana and Fleur to develop the company into the mental health app it is today. Currently listed on the NHS Apps Library the firm has also been commissioned by the NHS to combat poor mental health in London.
The new partnership with the Priory Group, which is famous for the Priory Hospital Roehampton but also includes centres across the UK and Europe, represents a significant digital step forward for the business which will use My Possible Self to make its expertise more affordable and portable.
My Possible Self offers interactive tools, helpful tips, visual and mental exercises and engaging activities based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and customised for digital use.
Joe McEvoy, director of innovation and digital at the Priory Group, said: “My Possible Self has pioneered the use of technology to support mental health and wellbeing in the UK.
“For most people, their introduction to mental health advice is going to be digital and the pandemic has accelerated the need for My Possible Self’s high-quality tools and techniques.
“Our aim is to reach millions of people across the UK, giving them access to Priory expertise in a number of common areas – from stress and depression and poor sleep to learning how to reduce your alcohol intake and ensure any gambling you do is done more safely.”
Simon Miller, chief operating officer, My Possible Self explained that working with the Priory Group also opened up new opportunities for the business.
He said: “We’re definitely having discussions about how we deploy what we’ve built and what new things we can build.
“This partnership with the Priory recognises that we have a real pedigree for the technology. It allows us to marry the businesses they work with to our technological delivery.”
He added that the system offers fantastic options for globalising, highlighting that although there are compliance issues around data transfer he believes the opportunities are there to grow the business and support it offers.
“I think we will be doing things with Priory and others internationally and scaling the help we can offer.”
