"A Heavy Topic. But a Beautiful One." Visiting Selfapy

Selfapy has set out to improve the care situation for mentally ill people in Germany. The startup helps people with depressive moods. And it does so online. Farina told us how it works.

Around 10 million people in Germany suffer from depressive disorders, with the trend on the rise. Patients may have to wait for therapy spots for up to six months, especially in rural areas. For someone who feels trapped in a hopeless situation, that's a long time. So, what do these people do while they wait? This question was at the beginning of Selfapy. The result was a startup that offers therapy online. Selfapy has developed a course that supports people with personalized exercises and psychological counseling. Anytime, anywhere.

SETTING: Iou've chosen a difficult topic.

FARINA: It's a heavy topic. But it's a beautiful one. The stories really hit close to home. We have everything – the girl in her early thirties who works in counseling and can't cope anymore, suffering from burnout, the depressive man on the brink of retirement who can't handle his life anymore, the woman in Shanghai who emigrated and feels lonely there, to people with age-related depressions. It's quite different from selling shoes. With us, these are truly life-changing experiences that people go through, and we aim to help alleviate them.

SETTING: What's the difference from the usual feel-good courses?

FARINA: There are several concepts like "How to be happy." It's also a market. Especially in our Generation Y, they're really into that. But we want to help people with an illness get out of their situation. Not this mindfulness thing like "I watch my diet, I watch my sports, and I make sure to smile at someone three times a day." We focus much more on "I am depressed. I am sick. How do I get out of my situation?" That's the difference.

SETTING: What is Selfapy all about?

FARINA: Ultimately, it's about providing people with mental disorders like burnout, depression, or anxiety with a direct path to therapy. We want to make psychological support directly accessible. However, our course is not a traditional psychotherapy. Firstly, we are based online, and secondly, we don't have therapists; we have psychologists, psychology graduates. These psychologists accompany people, if they want, through a 9-week course. Via phone or email. We don't offer face-to-face sessions. The idea is to offer the course decentrally and to say, "No matter where you are, we are here for you!"

SETTING: How can one imagine such a course?

FARINA: The course consists of a lot of information about depression. It's about understanding and reflecting on one's own example. Initially, for two weeks, you fill out a diary - what am I doing and how do I feel about it. In the third week, you pick out what feels good and try to focus on these activities and incorporate them into a daily routine. The last part is a fallback kit. "Online" doesn't mean read and done. People have to apply everything to their daily lives. The principle behind it is guided self-help - I give you something to work with, but you have to execute it yourself. And the psychologists are there to support that.

SETTING: What have been the biggest challenges for you so far?

FARINA: Acceptance. That was the biggest challenge.

SETTING: How is acceptance now?

FARINA: I'd say "We are getting there!" Through an ongoing study and articles in newspapers, we see that we're getting a scientific basis and, consequently, acceptance. We do press work, very classical marketing, and test a lot on the product itself. We're in a market that's still pretty much a greenfield. So, we still have to try a lot and optimize a lot. Then, it's about cooperation with relevant partners, especially for reputation. So, with the German Depression League Foundation or with the Robert Enke Foundation. Ultimately, we all have the same goal, and we don't step on each other's toes. The market is so big that we can say, if we help a little bit, it's better than not helping at all.

The other challenge is the price. Germans are not particularly willing to pay for medical services or doctor services that are not reimbursed by insurance. But we're working on it. That's why the study, to be able to cooperate with insurers.

SETTING: How did the founding of Selfapy come about?

FARINA: It started with my co-founder Kati, a psychologist, working for Charité. In the clinic for mental disorders. There, she noticed that while there were many people with mental disorders, there was no way to bridge the waiting time for therapy. At the same time, the waiting lists were getting longer and longer. That's when she got the idea to do something. In classical behavioral therapy, there are some approaches to guided self-help, even across distances. She brought that into the online world. And then we joined.

SETTING: What motivated you to join?

FARINA: I come from the classic startup, entrepreneur area. I founded three startups, mainly abroad. I've been back in Berlin for a year and a half now and was just looking for a project from the heart. Everything else before was a lot of fun, but I never had a project where I thought hey, I'm really making the world a better place. Which, as a businesswoman, isn't always easy. So, that was the first reason. And then, like so many others, I had a case of depression, or several actually, in the family, and could empathize well with the problem.

SETTING: What tips would you give other startups based on your experience?

FARINA: Firstly, I would say: Get used to a Roller Coaster Ride! Especially in the beginning, it's really up and down. There can be down phases, and numbers may not work out - for weeks. But don't give up! Just think: I optimize, I optimize. And somehow, it'll work out again. So, don't lose courage. And secondly: don’t scale too quickly. The question "So - can the whole thing be scaled?" always comes up, in every pitch. But not every approach is scalable. You can't compare apples to oranges. And especially in the digital health sector, you need a very long breath. It's not like the e-commerce shop that you scale from one to a hundred thousand units in six months. You have to be prepared for that and stretch your financial resources accordingly.

But I think we have the right timing. I believe that the insurers and especially Germany are opening up to this. Next year will bring some revolutionary changes, and accordingly, I think it will be very, very exciting!