Up until she joined Mantra Health care, Alaina,* a psychology major at a large public institution, had negative experiences with therapy. She had trouble accessing and connecting with therapists, but had a very different experience with Manta due to the ease-of-use, flexibility, and range of virtual therapists who have extensive experience working with young people.

“I get stressed out very easily, especially with the way my schedule is,” Alaina says. “With Mantra, I’m able to talk to someone about the things I’m stressed about and get help dealing with emotions as they come up rather than letting them just build up until it’s unmanageable. This has been really helpful.”

Finding the Right Therapist Proves Difficult 

Campbell started going to therapy when the pandemic hit in 2020, right before starting college. She wanted help dealing with high rates of stress and overwhelming emotions, but found little relief in her early attempts to find a provider that could meet her needs. Initially, she went through her health insurer, but found little to no information on the covered therapists or their approach to care. 

“You have no real clue what you’re walking into,” she says. “I’ve always struggled to find a therapist I could get along with.” Most of the therapists she met had experience working with older adults and didn’t seem to have the appropriate level of expertise or empathy needed to help a young person. As a result, she often felt judged for her choices or her life goals.

“A lot of the therapists I’ve gone to were very much used to dealing with ‘old people problems’ like a failing marriage, illness, and they don’t understand that I’m just sad and young,” says Alaina. “I’ve had therapists say, ‘Well, it could be worse.’”

Alaina was reluctant to continue therapy, feeling the process was more of a strain than a benefit. 

Turning to Mantra Health, Alaina Finds the Support She Needs 

When she arrived on campus and got connected to Mantra Health, Alaina was relieved to find therapists with varied demographics and specialties, all of whom had experience working with young adults.

“You can pick a therapist who you think you’d best get along with,” Alaina says. “You feel more comfortable going into it and you can get a sense for how they are as a person, which makes it easier to talk to them.”

Her experience with Mantra Health was extremely positive. Alaina was happy with the promptness of communication and the ease of scheduling and rescheduling. She would contact providers and get a response within 24 hours. That functionality proved to be especially helpful when dealing with mental health crises.

“If I’m really upset and emotional, I’m going to be crying and stuff, and I don’t want to call someone when I’m like that,” she says. “It’s easier to be able to text.” 

Working with therapists in the past, many failed to show up for telehealth appointments with no follow-up communication, and she didn’t always know if she was going to be on a video call. 

It was different with Mantra Health. Alaina knew that her provider would be on time and on video. Rarely did a provider show up any later than two minutes after the designated time, and if either party needed to reschedule, the new time was set expeditiously. 

“It’s been really easy to make appointments and to be able to be seen as I feel it’s needed,” she says. “They get back to you really quickly, and it’s very easy.” Being able to request and receive extra appointments when she needed support was a huge benefit. 

Self-Guided Wellness Lessons Provide Extra Support 

When Mantra Health launched its new self-guided wellness program Self Care program at St. Petersburg, Alaina immediately took advantage. Since embarking on the lessons, she has found that it helps bolster her emotional stability between appointments. Topics included in the program are centered around the four DBT modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation. 

“It can be really helpful to know what to do when I get worked up, because when I get really worked up, I kind of lose all common sense and I’m just stressed,” she says. 

The fact that the self-help resources are online and easily accessible from anywhere is a huge bonus for Alaina. With previous therapists, she would ask for resources, and receive worksheets by email. With Mantra Health’s Self Care program, she now has immediate access to a library of high-quality resources and can tackle key life skills like sleep hygiene, relationship building, and practice self-care. 

Mantra Health Helps Alaina Stay in School

Alaina credits Mantra Health with helping her stay in school. This is due, in part, to her therapist who has given her perspective on how to manage her progress and acknowledge her accomplishments, which can often get overshadowed by negative emotions and fears. 

“When I get really stressed out, I’ll get very nervous about doing badly on things, and I’ll just want to give up before I even finish them because I don’t want to confirm that I’m going to do bad,” she reflects. “It’s been really helpful having someone talk to me and say, ‘You’ve been doing really well so far. You can do it.’”

The ongoing support from Mantra Health has helped Alaina manage her busy schedule and excel academically. She doesn’t hesitate when asked whether she’d recommend Mantra to her friends. 

“I would recommend it to friends because of how easy it is to get started,” she says. “I think the biggest setback in trying to start therapy is just how hard it can be to get started. With Mantra, you can get started and be seen within a weekend.”

*Name changed to reflect the student’s identity.

Learn more about Mantra Health and how we support student mental health here.