Wysa
About This Program
Target Population: Adolescents and young adults managing mental health concerns such as anxiety, depression, and mild to moderate symptoms of substance use, eating disorders, panic, phobias; and individuals managing multiple chronic conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, and pain; adults of any age with the same concerns
For children/adolescents ages: 13 – 25
Program Overview
Wysa is an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven mental health support program designed to provide anonymous, 24/7 access to mental health care through conversational AI that guides users through exercises, including cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques. The program is structured to help individuals manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other common mental health challenges.
Wysa is designed to create a supportive and nonjudgmental environment, offering personalized tools such as thought reframing, relaxation exercises, and goal setting to promote emotional well-being. The desired outcome after the usage of the app is the reduction of symptomatology linked to these common mental health concerns, and the improvement of well-being and resilience.
Program Goals
The primary goals of Wysa are:
- Improve mental health parameters and overall well-being
- Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
- Build a strong therapeutic alliance with the AI therapist
- Build resilience and learn coping strategies to handle emotional challenges
Logic Model
The program representative did not provide information about a Logic Model for Wysa.
Essential Components
The essential components of Wysa include:
- Digital mental health support platform designed to address mental health needs through:
- AI-Guided Conversations:
- 24/7 support
- Anonymous conversations
- Series of mental health exercises
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Techniques designed to:
- Help manage negative thoughts
- Help reduce stress
- Improve coping strategies
- Behavioral Activation and Goal Setting:
- Users set achievable goals
- Actively work on improving their mental health through small, actionable steps
- Personalized Toolkits:
- Based on user input
- Exercises and activities to fit individual needs:
- Guided thought reframing
- Mood tracking
- Relaxation techniques
- Behavioral activation
- Daily Check-ins:
- Monitor their emotional well-being
- Track their mental health progress
- Sense of consistency and support
- Self-help Resources:
- Provides more than 150 exercises including breathing exercises and meditation
- Designed to address specific mental health challenges:
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Depression
- Sleep issues
- A safe, empathetic, and nonjudgmental environment where users can:
- Openly express themselves
- Develop critical life skills for navigating mental health challenges
- Clinical Outcome Tracking: Continuous monitoring of user progress through clinical outcome measures to ensure meaningful improvement
- A platform built to the highest global data protection and security standards, and Clinical safety
- Scalable, Digital Platform to reduce access barriers to mental health support:
- Accessed from any location through mobile devices or web browsers
- Easily available for adolescents across various settings (school, home, etc.)
- Privacy and Confidentiality: Users
- Do not need to register
- Do not need to share personal information
- Behavioral Activation and Goal Setting:
- Users set achievable goals
- Actively work on improving their mental health through small, actionable steps
Program Delivery
Child/Adolescent Services
Wysa directly provides services to children/adolescents and addresses the following:
- Anxiety
- Motivation
- Confidence
- Sleep
- Depression
- Relationships
- Exam Stress
- Loss
- LGBTQ+
- Low Energy
- Self Esteem
- Loneliness
- Trauma
- Health Issues
Recommended Intensity:
Individuals typically engage in daily 5- to 15-minute sessions, with the option for multiple check-ins throughout the day, depending on individual needs
Recommended Duration:
3 months, with the option for episodic support for a year or longer, depending on the user’s needs
Delivery Setting
This program is typically conducted in a(n):
- Virtual (Online, Smartphone, Zoom, Telephone, Video, etc.)
Homework
This program does not include a homework component.
Languages
Wysa has materials available in languages other than English:
Hindi, Marathi, Spanish
For information on which materials are available in these languages, please check on the program's website or contact the program representative (contact information is listed at the bottom of this page).
Resources Needed to Run Program
The typical resources for implementing the program are:
- Smartphones, tablets, or computers for accessing the Wysa app or web platform.
- Internet access to ensure seamless connectivity for the app’s functionality.
- Minimal supervision or personnel may be required for initial setup, but the program is designed to be self-guided.
Manuals and Training
Prerequisite/Minimum Provider Qualifications
Wysa is designed as a self-support tool that eliminates the need for constant supervision or intervention by a provider. It offers users regular feedback on their activities and usage patterns, while prioritizing privacy. This allows users to engage with the app independently, without relying on external prompts or oversight.
Manual Information
There is not a manual that describes how to deliver this program.
Training Information
There is not training available for this program.
Training Contact:
- Madhavi Roy
madhavi@wysa.io
phone: (626) 236-8661
Relevant Published, Peer-Reviewed Research
The following studies were not included in rating Wysa on the Scientific Rating Scale...
Sinha, C., Dinesh, D., Heaukulani, C., & Phang, Y. S. (2024). The following studies were not included in rating Wysa on the Scientific Rating Scale... Sinha, C., Dinesh, D., Heaukulani, C., & Phang, Y. S. (2024). Examining a brief web and longitudinal app-based intervention [Wysa] for mental health support in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic: Mixed-methods retrospective observational study. Frontiers in Digital Health, 6, Article 1443598. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2024.1443598
The purpose of the study was to (i) evaluate the engagement and retention of Singaporean users across the brief intervention on the mindline.sg website and the longitudinal app version of Wysa; (ii) examine the types of negative thoughts and challenges managed during the pandemic; and (iii) assess the impact of the conversational agent (CA) in supporting cognitive restructuring across attributional styles and cognitive pattern. Participants were voluntary users of either the brief intervention on mindline.sg or the longitudinal Wysa app intervention. Measures utilized include usage data within the app and textual snippets from users. Results indicate that users who used the longitudinal intervention after first using the brief intervention demonstrated significantly higher engagement and retention. In user ratings received for mindline.sg, 83.03% rated the app 3 or higher (out of 5) on helpfulness. 91.6% of the users who attempted cognitive restructuring on the app successfully reframed a thought. A single conversation with Wysa was also significantly associated with the ability to restructure future-oriented negative thoughts and internal, stable, and global negative thoughts, while other attributional styles required more intervention. Psychosocial challenges managed by users during COVID-19 were also documented through negative thoughts mentioned within the CA. Limitations include retrospective data analysis, lack of other mental health screening data; the researchers also did not know if the users sampled within the study had contracted COVID-19 and its immediate impact on their mental health, and lack of demographic data. Note: This article was not used in the rating process since it did not look at direct outcomes for the target population.
Additional References
Ki, E-J., Jang, J. Y., Kang, D-y. Evaluating mobile mental health apps using the Mobile Application Rating Scale (MARS) in the U.S. Advances in Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/18387357.2024.2388680
Manning, J. B., Blandford, A., & Edbrooke-Childs, J. (2023). High school teachers’ experiences of consumer technologies for stress management during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative study. JMIR Formative Research, 7, Article e50460. https://doi.org/10.2196/50460
Contact Information
- Chaitali Sinha
- Title: Chief Clinical R&D Officer
- Agency/Affiliation: Wysa
- Website: www.wysa.com/contact-us
- Email: chaitali@wysa.io
- Phone: (626) 236-8661
Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed by CEBC: December 2024
Date Program Content Last Reviewed by Program Staff: March 2025
Date Program Originally Loaded onto CEBC: March 2025
