Comment by eloisius
2 years ago
In my opinion all of these mental wellness apps start out in the good faith category but will transition to borderline scam. Same as most VC startups. Mental health service providers are expensive, and trying to get equivalent services at rock-bottom AppStore prices isn’t going to work. They’ll build up some reputation using VC money, and then when the time is right they’ll sneakily reword their site and introduce some “AI” component. Mark my words.
We hope to stay in this good faith category, and unfortunately are not able to offer "rock bottom app store prices". We believe in the power of human connection (with others, with coach) so we will not be replacing humans with AI. However, I will say, we already have AI components (on the back end to help with coach efficiency—e.g. helping coaches summarize notes, helping them schedule sessions, prioritize their messages, etc.) so hopefully it's not a surprise when we say AI!
Erm, a lot of grifts don't charge low prices. That's why they're so lucrative!
So far it's not looking good with this line: "All of our Shimmer ADHD Coaches are licensed or certified mental health professionals *OR* have extensive experience with ADHD & undergo our Shimmer Coach Training program" (emphasis mine). That should be a PR disaster with a blog post correcting it already in the works.
There's typically no human connection between you and unskilled sharing economy labor. "Experience with ADHD"? Please! Most entry-level workers have experience with something but it's still entry-level. Higher paying jobs are based on supply and demand. See the difference between DoorDash and jobs requiring a Commercial Drivers License. It isn't the number of miles driven, it's licensing and certification, which that *OR* sneakily gets you out of. It's like The Santa Clause, it's a cartoonishly misleading sentence.