In our world today, most news in our social media accounts, television, and other news platforms feed us with how humanity is bleeding for controversial topics and health concerns. These affect our minds by continuously bombarding us with all kinds of problems and negativities. Sometimes, they add up to our personal problems and stress in all the things that we have to do for our families, our work, and how we can bounce our businesses back into the market as we adjust ourselves after the pandemic.

With all these in mind, instead of focusing our energy on the things that we have to do, we tend to get more stressed and tired. Even though we are perfectly healthy, we tend to feel “sick” and physically tired, affecting every aspect of our lives. While others cope with these negativities, more and more people seek help from professionals who can give them mental health therapy to counteract these mental stresses.

According to experts, there is an increasing number of people that require assistance in terms of mental health therapy but only a few therapists can deal with these cases. Especially now that we are dealing with a lot of stress due to the effects of coronavirus pandemic on our personal health, relationships, business, and economy. That’s why a lot of people concerned with mental health wellness find ways on how to reduce waiting time or make the process of mental health therapy more affordable and accessible. And this is where virtual assistants come in.

Virtual Assistants in Mental Health Institutions

Virtual assistants are those that provide services to businesses and entrepreneurs in a remote workplace or location. More and more companies and businesses adapt to the new norm of hiring virtual assistants to maximise their opportunities online. 

With this in mind, the possibility of having virtual assistants assisting in healthcare institutions specializing in mental health would be a great venue to accommodate more people having mental health problems. And since most institutions are not totally accommodating a lot of patients, the setup of a virtual consultation for people that need mental health therapy is a very good option. 

Mental Health Virtual Assistants

Having a virtual mental health therapy is a plausible solution, however, there are a few concerns regarding this therapy setup. With the help of mental health virtual assistants, this virtual therapy can really help reach more people needing assistance.

1. There is an increasing number of patients but the number of therapists remains the same. So one way to solve this is by having mental health virtual assistants that could assist therapists in their virtual office. With these possibilities, more people can access mental health therapies without them leaving their houses. 
2. Besides taking care of the patients’ schedule appointments and coordinating with their insurance providers, mental health virtual assistants can assist therapists by handling the basic questions and queries of patients with regards to their mental health. This can be in the form of a chat with the patient or an email where the questions are properly addressed, taking care that virtual assistants comply with the Privacy Act 1988 Compliance where all data from patients should be kept confidential.
3. Mental health virtual assistants can also assist therapists during virtual activities. With  the patient’s permission, the virtual assistant can help the therapist handle note-taking or setting up the Zoom session for instance to make sure that everything goes smoothly. If the patient only wants the therapist, then the VA could transcribe the session into notes and texts so that the therapist can go back to the conversation as needed.

There are a lot more things that mental health virtual assistants can do. A lot of opportunities to help people who are most needing mental health support. 

With regards to our mental health, taking care of it and prioritizing it above anything else should be of our utmost importance for us to properly function as parents, as siblings, as a boss,  as a coworker, and as a person.