Mental Health Guide
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Clinician-led · Evidence-based · On the UK medical-device pathway

Therapy is not sufficiently, meaningfully or accurately measured.

No one can reliably tell when (and how) it isn't working. Mental Health Guide is clinician-led AI that shows therapists what's helping, what's blocking progress, and who needs more, with a qualified clinician always in charge.

I'm a therapist: join the founding group Partners and investors Request a demo

Or email hello@mentalhealth.coach

The problem

Most therapy runs without clear, meaningful feedback on whether it is working for this person.

Problems are noticed lateEven experienced therapists find it hard to tell, from sessions alone, which clients are getting worse (Hannan et al., 2005). Without regular measurement, stuck or worsening clients are often missed until late in treatment.
Complexity is missedClients with complex needs are often not recognised until late, and difficulties outside a therapist's training may not get the right help. In our survey, 58% of therapists said spotting these signs was hard.
Administration crowds out careNotes, letters and paperwork take time away from clients.
Unsafe alternativesMost mental-health apps have little evidence, and people are turning to general chatbots with no clinician involved.

How it works

A tool used by therapists, not a chatbot therapist. It works quietly in the background, so the clinician can focus on the person in front of them.

A practice assistant

The Guide organises the day-to-day running of a practice (diary, emails, messages and liaison with other professionals) as and when the therapist needs it, so the practice flows.

Clients share, in their own words

Between sessions, clients tell their therapist how things really are: short measures, their goals, what's getting in the way and how therapy feels.

The Guide brings it together

It tracks symptoms, wellbeing and strengths, spots what may be keeping problems going, and flags anyone stuck, getting worse or needing another specialist.

The therapist decides

The Guide offers evidence-based suggestions for prompts, areas to explore, homework and next steps. It also drafts notes and letters, and gives a framework for supervision. Nothing is acted on without the clinician.

Built for real-world complexity

Real clients rarely arrive with just one problem, however tidy it first appears, and not every problem is a mental health one: trauma layered on depression, shifting risk, or symptoms that need a different specialist.

Overlapping difficulties

Focuses on both the common and disorder-specific processes that maintain mental health problems, such as avoidance and unhelpful patterns of thinking and behaviour.

Recognise and refer

Prompts to consider when symptoms may need another specialist, such as possible psychosis, bipolar disorder, neurological or physical difficulties.

Safety for everyone

A safety plan for every client, and early prompts when things are getting worse between sessions.

Less admin

Notes, letters and reminders drafted for you to easily check over and send.

How we're different

New tools for therapists are appearing fast. Most only do one or two jobs well.

Mental Health Guide joins the pieces up around what matters most: taking care of the tasks that distract you from being a great therapist, and helping you track how each client is getting better, by the measures that matter most to you both.

AI note-takersSave time writing up sessions. Notes are where they stop.

uses the time saved to show whether therapy is working, and what to do when it isn't.

General clinical AIBuilt for doctors across every specialty.

built only for psychological therapy, by practising clinicians.

Chatbot therapy appsTalk to people directly, often with no clinician involved.

supports the therapist, who stays in charge of every decision.

All data will be held in a secure trusted research environment, where only a client and their own therapist can see their personal information.

Unguided AIFinds patterns in anything, and can be accurate on average for the wrong reasons.

guided by clinical evidence and each client's own data, so it's right for the person, not just some non-specialist LLM average.

This is our clinically guided approach to harnessing AI.

Our clinician-led toolbox turns everyday admin into helpful supervision support, evidence-based treatment plans and homework. Built to UK standards from day one. Use as much or as little as you need: it's in your control.

Built for trust

  • A clinician is always in chargeNothing reaches a client or is acted on unless you, the therapist, have approved it.
  • Data protected by designDesigned to keep data in UK data centres, with personal details protected and never used to train anyone else's AI.
  • Grounded in evidenceClinical logic built on published evidence, and tested and agreed by expert consensus before use, not simply asserted.
  • Lived experience, built inPeople with lived experience help test and shape the tools, and the founder has used mental-health services too.

The AI does

  • Draft notes and letters for the therapist to check
  • Bring together measures and the client's own words
  • Highlight possible concerns for the therapist to consider
  • Suggest questions and evidence-based options

The AI doesn't

  • Diagnose, or make clinical decisions
  • Act as a therapist or replace one
  • Contact clients without the therapist's say-so
  • Share personal information

Where we are, and the path to regulation

We're open about what's done and what isn't. Mental Health Guide is in development and is not yet available for clinical use.

  1. Done

    Company formed

    Mental Health Guide Ltd, incorporated in the UK.

  2. Done

    Clinical advisory group

    Senior clinicians across the mental health disciplines guiding safety, evidence and clinical design.

  3. Done

    Practitioner research

    Surveys of practising therapists and physiotherapists in October 2026, shaping what we build first.

  4. In discussion

    First pilots

    No-cost pilots with chosen UK clinical services.

  5. Planned

    Expert consensus studies

    Using a Delphi approach, disorder by disorder, to agree the clinical logic with practitioners, followed by testing with people with lived experience.

  6. Planned

    Clinical safety and data protection

    NHS clinical safety standards (DCB0129), the Data Security and Protection Toolkit, ISO 27001 and Cyber Essentials.

  7. Planned

    Medical-device approval

    Working towards UK medical-device (UKCA) certification.

  8. Future

    A companion between sessions

    With regulatory approval, a clinician-directed companion that helps clients build their own confidence and skills between appointments.

Who's behind it

Jeremy Christey, Consultant Psychologist with around 40 years in practice, Fellow of the RSA for his mental health work, designer and co-author of the PSYCHLOPS patient outcome measure, and former clinical lead of national therapy services. He trained with many of the UK academics behind the NICE-recommended therapy pathways, at Oxford and other UK universities, and with Judith and A.T. Beck in Philadelphia, and has trained many UK therapists up to doctoral level.

Joined by John Stean, technical co-founder, who has built and sold an AI-led company, and supported by a steering group with input from psychiatry, consultant- and professor-level psychology and senior psychological therapists, alongside a clinical advisory group that includes a consultant psychiatrist and a senior trauma specialist.

A 2024 roadmap for responsible clinical AI identifies intake, assessment and drafting notes as early uses, and argues that human oversight is essential in this "uncommonly high stakes" field (Stade et al., 2024, npj Mental Health Research). AI supporting, clinicians deciding: that boundary is what we're building around.

Are you a therapist?

Help shape Mental Health Guide from the start as one of our founding therapists.

Join the founding group

Or email hello@mentalhealth.coach

Partners, funders and investors

We'd welcome a conversation about pilots, research and investment.

Get in touch

Or email hello@mentalhealth.coach