A new phone application called 7-Cups of Tea is offering therapy in the form of chat forums with trained students, graduates and professionals.
The application offers chat forums covering topics such as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder where users can speak freely.
“At any given time, 30 percent of the people on the planet are struggling,” founder and CEO Glen Moriarty said. “They often feel like they are all alone and don’t have anyone to talk to. Nothing could be further from the truth. People often just need a genuine person to care for them.”
Although the app is only several months old, it has earned international recognition.
“We have 85,000 conversations a week and more than 70,000 listeners from 150 countries providing support in 130 languages,” Moriarty said. “We think getting support in your native language is important.”
“Listeners” are trained students, graduates or professionals who listen and talk users through their times of crisis.
When first opening the app, operators are asked to connect or log into their existing account. If one says they are new to the program, a descriptor screen followed by an age verification and warning label appears.
The free 24/7 therapy app was released in late October 2014 by clinical psychologist Moriarty.
Moriarty said the idea for the app came about after he was thinking of “behaviors that haven’t yet moved online” while he was speaking to his wife who is a therapist.
Moriarty said he was thankful for his spouse being there to listen to him, but he knew that not everyone had the same opportunity.
“Therapy… can be intimidating, inconvenient and expensive,” Moriarty said. “I thought we should create an alternative where anyone — regardless of time, language or country — can open an app or visit our site and receive support [to] be listened to by a caring and non-judgmental person.”
7-Cups provides the phone number for the suicide helpline, (800) 273-8255, since the platform is meant for non-crisis support only.
“I think it’s a great idea in theory,” sophomore social work major Ryan Blitstein. “The best help [comes] from those who’ve struggled. However, the advice I see on there isn’t helpful, at least some of it. It’s just people saying ‘I understand.’”
Once users are in the system, they are given a random upbeat screen name. Then, users can customize what kind of listener they need by entering their age range, a mental health category (drug abuse, anxiety, etc.), a country and language.
With so many users, one has to wonder how 7-cups keeps conversations going in the wrong direction.
“I’m a strong believer that messaging is bad, especially at [a vulnerable time],” junior mechanical engineering major Jacob Ruemelin said. “Things can be taken the wrong way so easily, because you can’t hear the inflection in their voice.”
According to Moriarty, those seeking help can report bad listeners. The listeners will then receive an email detailing what they need to improve upon. Moriarty said some listeners are former 7-Cups users and truly care about the clients’ well-being.
Rumelin said he thinks the app is good for a quick talk, but not a long-term situation.
“We’d like 7-Cups to be a place where anyone can turn—regardless of language, country, background or issue—in order to receive help and support,” Moriarty said. “Technology enables us to do things in new ways at scale.”
