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Stories

August 10, 2023

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Anise Health is on a mission to improve mental healthcare for Asian Americans.

Recognizing the lack of health equity in the existing mental healthcare system, especially for people of color, Anise Health aims to create a positive change by offering culturally-responsive care.

Anise Health wants to make mental health care accessible and affordable for everyone. They work with different health plans and offer affordable plans for those who pay themselves. They have big plans to reach more people of color and support them in their mental health journey. 

Anise Health believes that everyone deserves the care and support they need to live a happier and healthier life. Read through the inspiring insights from Anise Health in an interview with Asian Hustle Network.

Alice and Nisha, founders of Anise Health

ADDRESSING THE UNIQUE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS OF THE ASIAN COMMUNITY

Anise Health is building the gold standard of mental healthcare for Asian Americans because there is an urgent need to advance health equity.

People of color are extremely underserved by the existing mental health care system, with 50% dropping out of therapy after just the first session. Specifically, 41% of Asian Americans experience current symptoms of depression and anxiety, yet only 30% report feeling supported today. The sharp increase in anti-Asian hate crimes compounded with the model minority myth means that the Asian community often suffers in silence, leading to devastating consequences such as Asian young adults being the only ethnic group with suicide as the leading cause of death.

Anise is on a mission to change these trends by creating a culturally-responsive digital mental health platform built by and for the Asian community. We’re humbled by the incredible results our clients achieve on our platform, including:

  • 97% completion rate of the first 4 weekly sessions, which far exceeds the industry benchmark of outsized dropouts after the first session
  • 95% of our clients report feeling heard or understood by their provider, demonstrating a strong therapeutic alliance between providers and clients
  • Net promoter score of 84 (46 points above the industry average), indicating unparalleled satisfaction with our provider curation and training

SPECIFIC CHALLENGES THAT INDIVIDUALS FACE WHEN SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

Asian Americans experience unique stressors such as collectivistic family dynamics, bicultural tension living as a minority in a majority culture, pressure to achieve and perfectionism from reinforced narratives of self-sacrifice, intergenerational trauma from unhealed historical wounds, excessive shame and guilt leading to internalized self-criticism, rigid gender norms and relationship expectations, to name a few. 

Our clinical advisory board comprises pioneering experts in the field who are leading evidence-based research to address these stressors and empower the well-being of the Asian community. We infuse their expertise into our care models and translate this information into digestible educational formats which are curated in our digital resource library.

DESTIGMATIZING MENTAL HEALTH

Anise normalizes mental health by delivering psychoeducational webinars and interactive workshops tailored to Asian Americans. Our clinicians lead these group services across a diverse range of topics for a variety of enterprise partners and schools, including Netflix, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and many more. We also host free community engagement programming with a large network of over two dozen nonprofit partners, as well as speaking at multicultural conferences and celebratory events.

For individuals seeking 1-on-1 services, Anise has developed care models that are clinically validated and culturally tailored, which research shows to be ~5x more effective than one-size-fits-all offerings. We are the only platform providing a holistic suite of services that integrate individual teletherapy, behavioral coaching, peer support groups, alternative medicine, and a curated library of self-service digital resources. Furthermore, our approach enables the accurate assessment of cultural stressors and personalization of care using machine learning technology. Anise’s proprietary clinical care model incorporates cultural adaptation along every step of the client’s journey from intake to blended treatment plans.

THE CULTURALLY-RESPONSIVE CARE MODEL

At Anise, culturally-responsive care means seeing a client as more than just a set of symptoms and diagnoses. Clients are seen as unique individuals whose racial and cultural contexts shape how they experience the world and how their needs are not being met.

Our providers are recruited for their deep expertise in culturally-responsive care and extensive experience supporting Asian clients. Once hired, providers are trained in our proprietary curriculum to explore clients’ intersecting identities and empowered in monthly consultation sessions, which offer providers their own space for connection and continued learning. In fact, our providers are diverse and maintain a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, language capabilities, and therapy approaches.

Therapists and coaches work together as a dedicated team for clients, where the therapist helps the client navigate through psychological history and set concrete therapy goals, while the coach works with the client to achieve these goals. This empowers Asian clients to achieve lasting outcomes.

TESTIMONIALS

  • Anise Client – “Therapy had not worked for me before, but after meeting my Anise clinician I have regained confidence in the process and am excited to continue working with my therapist.”
  • Anise Clinician – “I found Anise’s clinical model to be such a culturally effective way to provide mental health services for clients and clinicians. Especially the way it incorporated coaching with therapy.”
  • Enterprise Partner – “I had never thought about burnout through the lens of cultural identity and how that may impact me. This session helped me understand deeper elements of what I was dealing with.”

ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY

Anise is in-network with Managed Health Network and Optum, and is in the process of contracting with several large health plans, in addition to accepting HSA and FSA benefits. For self-pay clients, Anise is affordable with subscription plans averaging $200 per month, nearly 1/4 the cost of average private practice rates in New York and California. For clients who want to supplement their holistic health, Anise offers clinician-led peer support circles along a variety of diverse themes at only $25 per week.

LOOKING IN THE FUTURE

We have ambitious growth plans to support the Asian community and people of color more broadly, which include expanding to more states, partnering with universities to support students, and offering our services as covered employee benefits for businesses. We are open to feedback and love piloting solutions with our community. Contact Anise Health’s Head of Growth, Angel Wang, for ideas at angel@anisehealth.co

CONNECT WITH ANISE HEALTH

Website: anisehealth.co

Instagram: @anisehealth

Linkedin: Anise Health

TikTok: @anisehealth

Facebook: Anise Health

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