With an estimated 1.2 million Canadian youth affected by mental illness and the demand for youth mental health crisis services increasing 30 to 40 per cent per year, the creator of Charlie Wellbeing, Matthew Segal, says children need more access to online tools and services that can proactively help them address their mental health challenges. Segal says employers can benefit from playing a greater role in that process because Canada’s youth mental health crisis is also a significant workplace issue, where employee performance and safety is being compromised by the distraction of family mental health issues, costing Canadian employers millions in absenteeism and lost productivity.
 
Vancouver-based Matthew Segal is best known for creating the anonymous messaging app Lipsi during his Junior year at Yale University in 2015. Lipsi grew to become the fastest growing social messaging app in North America, ranking 7th out of two million globally on the App Store, and becoming the No. 1 lifestyle app in North America in 2018. Over its first two years, the app’s anonymized analytics showed that mental health was a common theme among the one billion plus messages sent on the platform. In fact, so many young people were anonymously talking about anxiety, depression, sexuality and even suicide, that it inspired Segal to create a tool to help detect and treat youth mental health issues.
 
Today, that solution is called Charlie Wellbeing, Canada’s first benefits plan focused on youth mental health. The online service can be provided as a standalone service or as part of a more comprehensive corporate employee benefit plans provided by iHealthOX.
 
Charlie Wellbeing provides teens with confidential online access to licensed therapists and psychologists via desktops, iPads or mobile phones. Through Charlie, youth can use text, voice and video sessions to connect with professional therapists specifically trained to address youth mental health issues. While children join Charlie through their parents or their parent’s employee benefits program, how and when they access Charlie Wellbeing counsellors and resources is up to them.
 
Through Charlie Wellbeing, youth can access counselling in as a little as 12 hours. The process begins with an initial clinical assessment, after which a care concierge (with social worker designation or equivalents) is assigned to create a treatment program customized for each youth. In addition to matching teens with licensed therapists based on a variety of clinically backed criteria, Charlie also provides a holistic ecosystem that includes therapy, shared resources, community engagement and meditation. Once their plan is in place, youth can confidentially access online resources or their therapist at their discretion, or in collaboration with their parent(s).
 
“When teens have a safe space to talk to someone about difficult feelings and situations, it helps them start to deal with their problems instead of holding their feelings in,” says Segal. “One of the many benefits of Charlie is that it allows teens to access the mental health services they need through texting or other ways they are comfortable communicating. The support and guidance they receive from counsellors helps them improve their communications skills, build resilience, and develop the coping skills they need to navigate their current as well as future challenges.”



Among the wide range of challenging issues affecting Canadian teens are anxiety, substance abuse, school conflicts, emotional regulation, identity formation, sexuality, gender issues, bullying, parents’ divorce, or stress around university/college applications. For many teens, the negative effects of these challenges have been exacerbated by pandemic-related restrictions on traditional supports like interaction with friends and peers. Also contributing to teen anxiety are unhealthy relationships with social media, where a preoccupation with perfectionism and body image too often contributes to additional stress, difficulties with family relationships, low self-esteem and an unhealthy relationship with food.
 
“Kids and teens need mental health supports designed specifically for them that empowers them to build helpful thinking patterns and healthy behavioural habits,” says Segal. “This helps them resolve problems in the earlier stages, rather than letting them manifest into something bigger and more complex. If ignored, even seemingly insignificant problems can have the power to disrupt a teen’s mental wellbeing later in life. Our goal is to provide teens with the tools necessary to not only get by, but to thrive and improve their quality of life, no matter what they choose to take on.”
 
While several organizations provide online mental health services for youth 16 or older, Charlie Wellbeing is one of the few to make mental health resources and youth-specific therapy available online to children as young as 12. 

“Half of all lifetime disorders start by age 14, so early detection, identification and treatment of mental health issues is critical, and that process begins with open dialogue at home,” says psychologist Dr. Lara De Bono, iHealthOX’s Clinical Director. “Among the key warning signs parents should watch out for include their child being withdrawn, sleeping too much, communicating less, increasing their time spent on social media, not being home as much, not sleeping enough or having abnormal sleep patterns.
 
“Of course, knowing, or even not knowing, how mental challenges are impacting your child can be one of the most painful and emotionally draining experiences. For parents wanting to take a proactive approach to their child’s mental wellbeing, some of the best methods are to find ways to check in with them regularly, always be available to listen, or simply resist the urge to jump to conclusions or solutions when speaking with them.”
 
“Children aged 12-17 make up the largest proportion of mental health-related ER visits," adds Dolly Moorhead, advisor to CWB, and former senior advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General. “By giving youth the resources and freedom to address their mental health on their own terms, Charlie Wellbeing empowers them to get the help they need so they can stay on track, and we can and prevent the costly tragedies caused by untreated mental illness.”
 
About Charlie Wellbeing
Charlie Wellbeing is Canada’s first mental health plan to provide teens with 24/7 confidential access to licensed therapists and psychologists via text, voice and video. Created by Matthew Segal, the creator of Lipsi and co-founder of iHealthOX, Charlie Wellbeing is available to families and individuals as a prepaid service or through corporate employee benefit plans provided by iHealthOX to employers across Canada. For more information, visit www.charliewellbeing.com