What is self-therapy?
Self-therapy is independent work with structured psychological information and therapeutic tools adapted for self-guided use. It can help people address complex psychological issues, even when they do not have the resources to work one-on-one with a therapist.
Nika, founder and CEO of Mindspa, explains how self-therapy works, how the platform’s courses are created, and why this approach can sometimes lead to surprisingly quick results.
● When your problem meets your superpower
It all started about seven years ago. At the time, I was already a popular blogger and author, and I regularly received messages from people on social media who shared their problems and asked for help.
I was studying psychology and going to therapy myself, so I knew it could work. I had experienced the benefits firsthand, and I thought it would be amazing to make high-quality psychological support available to everyone in an accessible format they could always have at hand. Why did that matter to me?
First, finding a good therapist can be difficult, and a bad therapist can cause even more trauma. I experienced this myself: I had to change therapists four times before I found the right one for me. Second, traditional therapy can be expensive. I recently added up the cost and realized that I had spent more than $32,000 on therapy. Understandably, not everyone can afford to invest that much in their mental health.
That was where my superpower as an entrepreneur came in. I tend to turn everything that excites me into a project or business, so I came up with the idea of creating therapy programs that could help people.
We started with psychotherapy groups, but they never really took off. My webinars did not produce strong enough results either. The guides I created were somewhat more popular with my audience, but they still did not have the impact I wanted. So I kept looking for another solution.
Finding the right self-therapy format
Through trial and error, we found the right format: people could move gradually in the direction they wanted to go while receiving high-quality information in manageable portions, along with clear and specific therapeutic tools designed for independent use.
Today, our users have access to complete therapeutic programs in the convenient format of an app. The first versions contained only theory and simple writing exercises—there were no videos, audio materials, or meditations. At that point, the app did not even exist; we delivered our courses through WhatsApp.
My team and I observed our users and their progress. We identified weak points in the programs and saw that many people found it difficult to finish a course.
Eventually, we realized that we wanted to turn the project into a serious business so that we could provide a better experience for our users. We decided to create our own platform, making it easier and more convenient to take the courses.
We also wanted to develop other self-therapy tools for people who could not afford—or did not want—to complete an entire course. That is how the Mindspa app was born.
● A winding path to a great product
I want every person taking one of our courses to feel supported and understand what they are doing. The greatest challenge in our method is making work on serious psychological issues as simple, understandable, and engaging as possible.
Another challenge is finding the right experts. I have very high standards for our course authors.
What qualifications do Mindspa course authors need?
- A minimum of 10 years of professional experience
- Extensive practical experience
- Multiple degrees and certifications
- Alignment with the company’s values
- Empathy
- A commitment to continuous training
In addition, a Mindspa expert must be a strong writer because every course begins as a text-based program, even if it is later adapted into audio or video. Our experts need to produce high-quality writing in terms of style, clarity, and methodology.
In fact, we are extremely particular about methodology. Self-therapy courses are not the same as educational programs. We had to develop our methodology step by step, once again through trial and error.
We have not stopped refining it. We are always looking for new methods and approaches that can make the courses even more effective and easier to understand.
● Behind the scenes
We now have a well-established system for producing self-therapy courses, which means our users regularly receive new products or updated versions of existing ones. I want to explain what happens behind the scenes.
You might imagine one exhausted person poring over a text, but the reality is very different. A large team works on every product and reviews it at every stage.
How we choose topics for self-therapy courses
Some of our courses begin with personal requests from members of our team. For example, our course “Don’t Leave Me,” which addresses anxious attachment, was created on my initiative.
I have an anxious attachment style myself, so I know how difficult and painful it can be—and how much work it may take to address the issue in therapy. I wanted people like me to have access to support that was both understandable and accessible.
However, our main source of inspiration is always our audience. I carefully read users’ comments, study the requests we receive, and follow new research. This helps me understand the underlying problems behind people’s complaints.
When I come up with an idea for a new course, I take it to our team of experts. Together, we decide how to approach the subject and whether it is suitable for self-therapy. We have had to abandon several course ideas after realizing that the particular issue could not be addressed appropriately through independent work.
The preparation does not stop there. Once the experts approve a subject, our marketing department gets involved. We survey our audience to determine whether the issue is relevant to them. If we find that people are interested in the topic and willing to work on it, the course is approved. That is when the main work begins.
Who creates each course?
We have a large team of therapists who practice different approaches. Typically, four to seven specialists help create a single course. These professionals include clinical psychologists, Gestalt therapists, schema therapists, Acceptance and Commitment therapists, and others. We also involve experts in meditation and embodiment practices.
Once the working group has been assembled, its leader creates a plan for the course. Each expert then prepares their part of the material, contributing insights from their particular approach.
At the same time, we evaluate the course not only from an expert’s perspective but also from the point of view of an ordinary person. Our task is to design a clear journey in which users experience consistent progress: they begin at point A and move toward their desired point B.
Why the order of the material matters
We arrange the information and exercises so that they have a cumulative effect. Instead of giving someone everything at once, we provide the material in measured, consistent portions.
The timing of information matters. People should receive it when they have developed enough of a foundation to understand and process it.
This is how we write a course and enrich it with practical exercises. The head of the group then proofreads and edits it. Next, the course supervisor—an expert with at least 15 years of experience—reviews the material. Finally, I read it myself.
I review every product released by Mindspa, and I usually make the most edits. That level of attention may seem excessive, but I believe it is how we maintain our high standards.
I do not ignore anything that raises a question for me as either a user or an expert. First, I look at the product through the eyes of someone using it for the first time. Then I evaluate it from a professional perspective. Users receive access to a course only after it has passed every review and improvement stage.
● The “Wow” effect of self-therapy and taking control of your life
A few years ago, we conducted our first survey and asked people to describe the changes they had experienced after taking our courses. I was astonished by their responses.
Of course, I knew that self-therapy could work; otherwise, we would not have been doing it. But some people described results that had taken me three years of therapy to achieve.
I know that everyone is different. For example, I always need an instructor nearby when I am learning a new skill. Nevertheless, I was reading stories from people who said they had resolved, through a single course, issues that had taken me years to address in therapy. I was delighted by those results.
Does everyone experience dramatic results?
No, not everyone experiences a dramatic “wow” effect. Most of our users report steady, positive, and gradual progress. They notice that they become calmer and more confident. They find love and start families. They develop an empowering sense of control over their lives and begin to understand that they can make themselves happy.
That feeling is difficult to describe, but it can be amazing. For example, one person wrote: “I had a very negative self-image and used to think poorly of myself. Those thoughts tormented me. During the course, I completed some exercises, and now the thoughts are almost gone. Even when they return, I know how to stop them.”
Changes in relationships and communication
In their relationships, our users report that they begin responding to situations differently. One person wrote: “I suddenly noticed that I was responding in a completely different way. In the past, I would have frozen and not known what to say. But in that moment, I calmly said that the behavior was unacceptable to me. My partner responded appropriately to my clear, confident message and stopped doing the thing I didn’t like.”
Self-therapy and anxiety
Another major effect reported by users is reduced anxiety. When someone focuses on themselves for at least 20 minutes a day while completing a course, they may gradually become calmer and more confident. In our approach, this happens because the person is addressing the lack of attention to themselves that triggers anxiety in the first place.
I could not possibly list every effect of self-therapy here. Our courses are problem-oriented: rather than addressing relationships only in general terms, for example, they target specific relationship issues. The same principle applies to all our products, which is why we see such a wide range of positive results.
● A never-ending journey
According to a recent survey of our audience, a significant percentage of Mindspa users complete their courses. Our course completion rate is three times higher than the market average. Even so, we never stop working on our materials and platforms.
We aim to make the system as simple as possible without sacrificing the quality or depth of the information. We want users to feel engaged, curious, and excited to learn something new whenever they open the Mindspa app.
How the self-therapy method continues to evolve
The method is now well established, so much of our work involves refining it. We continually study new approaches, practices, and techniques. We review new information from modern psychology that can be adapted for independent work and incorporate it into our courses. This process of updating and improving the material never ends.
When someone purchases one of our courses, they automatically receive all future updates for free. We are constantly adding new material. This happened, for example, with EMDR practices when we eventually found a way to adapt them for independent work. The same is true of embodiment practices.
I will not reveal our secrets, but we are currently considering and testing several new and interesting solutions.
Every day, I wake up thinking about what we can improve and how we can make the experience more interesting. I fall asleep thinking about the same things. Even in the shower, I come up with new ideas about how to make our products more comfortable and intuitive for users.
Even the rare negative review helps us improve. I consider every one of them by asking, “How can I make this better?”
I am not the only person completely absorbed in creating these products. Our entire team works on them day and night. Every day, we discuss ideas, send one another messages, share what we have discovered, and put those insights into practice.
We do all of this to help each user achieve the results they want from self-therapy and develop a greater sense of control over their life.
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