Founder & CEO Sonia Kaurah started the company in 2023 after she found the process of finding a therapist for herself exhausting and expensive to have to educate them on her cultural background and the specific challenges she faces living in the Western world. Sonia is a second-generation Australian of South Asian heritage, she has a degree in Psychology and is ex-Venture Capital and startup mentor. She believed there should be a more equal and culturally competent approach to therapy. Here’s her exclusive interview with Asian Voice centred on her work around mental health.
Can you explain how Tala Thrive ensures culturally competent care for its users, particularly in terms of matching them with therapists and coaches who understand their culture, language, and/or religion?
Culturally competent care ensures that support is delivered in a manner that respects and integrates the cultural backgrounds, beliefs and preferences of individuals. At Tala Thrive, we prioritise this approach to ensure our users receive the most effective and personalised care.
Firstly, our AI-enabled platform begins by asking users about their cultural background, religious beliefs, and the importance they place on having a practitioner who understands these aspects. Additionally, we inquire about the language preference for sessions, recognising that English may not always be preferred. Users can also select areas of support that many other platforms don’t offer such as racial trauma, cultural identity, generational trauma, colourism, visa stress and more. Because you shouldn’t pay to educate your therapist about your culture and be matched with someone who just gets it!
How does Tala Thrive utilise AI technology to enhance mental health support and tailor services to individual needs?
Our AI-enabled process is simple and efficient:
Brief Questionnaire: Users answer just 13 questions about their cultural background, religious beliefs, areas of concern, and practitioner preferences.
AI-Powered Matching: Our algorithm analyses the user's responses and suggests two highly compatible therapists or coaches from our diverse pool of providers.
Detailed Profiles: Users can review comprehensive profiles of their matches, including the practitioners' lived experiences, expertise, and specialisations.
User's Choice: After reviewing, users can select their preferred therapist, or life or executive coach and book a session at a convenient time.
Can you elaborate on the self-led programs offered by Tala Thrive and how they complement the video call sessions with therapists and coaches?
In addition to video therapy sessions, Tala Thrive is developing self-led mental health programs with the expertise of Norman Kim, a racial trauma expert at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry. These programs will consist of educational materials and worksheets covering areas such as racial trauma, generational trauma, minority stress, cultural identity issues, and colourism.
For generational trauma, for example, the self-led program will start with a few questions to understand the user's current situation. It will then provide education on what is generational trauma, how it manifests physically and emotionally, and finally, offer strategies and exercises to improve the user's situation.
