7cupsoftea

This is really awesome! Fantastic idea. I'm a listener on 7 cups of tea and would have loved to share a meal and a beer with you. I'll be listening on 7 cups for another hour or so if anyone is struggling and needs a bit of extra support.

We use Plivo at 7 Cups of Tea. They are great and I highly recommend them.

These guys are from the future.

Thank you!

I appreciate that. Thank you!

Thank you for the feedback. We have the messages tool available so you can message a listener to set up a time to connect if they are currently unavailable.

I understand your perspective. We are not trying to portray listeners as licensed mental health professionals. We use the word trained to suggest that active listening is different from the normal kind of listening that most of us experience in our regular lives. ie, active listening is different from having a normal conversation. People normally don't use summarizing, paraphrasing and empathy regularly. Also, pointing to the licensed people on the site is not meant to equate active listeners with mental health professionals, but to simply highlight that there are a good number of licensed mental health professionals on the site.

This is a good point. We have a hypothesis that there is a care surplus (like Shirky's idea of a cognitive surplus) where there are lots of people that want to give back, but they can only give back on their own terms (i.e., when they are available and want to). We are very careful to not pressure folks into doing too much. Long-term this has to be sustainable. We are developing a strong listener community and that is helping people feel a real sense of pride in what they do and like they are a part of something larger.

Glad you tried it out and experienced a sense of relief! That is exactly what we are aiming for!

I think the support on this community is actually a huge strength. People in general really try to help people when they post about feeling depressed or suicidal. It is always great to read an update post several months later when the person is through it and doing better. Our site can further help by taking things a step further.

We will! Thanks :)

Excellent point. Thank you.

Thanks Michael. We have some bitcoin experts in our batch. I'll talk more with them.

Thanks!

Thanks! We actually just formalized a partnership with the International Bipolar Foundation.

Jonas, thank you for your interest. Please stay tuned.

My sense is that YC and the partners have always been about making peoples lives better. It might just be that entrepreneurs applying for YC are beginning to realize that YC can be a great avenue to accomplish a lot of good and also create a real business.

Thanks. Ideally, I think you have both peer specialists and mental health practitioners working together. We have plenty to do, but are thinking hard about how to best work with clinicians. Insurance companies in MD, TX and CA are now processing insurance payments for online therapy, so this is definitely an option for us to expand into. If you are passionate about this space, then shoot us an email. Currently, we actually already have a # of licensed mental health professionals serving as listeners.

Thank you! I appreciate you taking the step to create an account and let us know. That means a lot. Also, if you are interested in becoming a listener, then we'd love to have you : ). www.7cupsoftea.com/listener

Clicks want to send me an email to further discuss? info at 7 cups of tea dot com.

Joseph, you are welcome. Right now we are a bit overwhelmed, so it might be hard to get through. Things should quiet down. Please let me know how it goes for you. You can send me an email at info at 7cupsoftea dot com.

We are creating a marketplace where some people will volunteer, some will have a pay what you want option, and then others will have a set rate for 30 minutes.

This is an excellent point. We definitely plan to work with seniors. My grandmother is 82. I try to call her 1x a week just to touch base. She looks forward to the calls from me and my sister, but we get pretty busy and forget from time to time. I think it'd be awesome if a listener on 7 Cups could just chat her up a couple times a week for 15 minutes each time. It'd mean the world to her. I think we have a real opportunity to work with nursing homes and assisted care facilities on a solution for them.

Also, one interesting anecdote that I discovered when talking with experts that work with the elderly. They said that often times elderly people will complain about telemarketers, but they'll answer the phone because they are lonely. They'll then end up buying things they don't really want just because they were able to connect with another person.

I also wonder if we can find a way for elderly volunteers to sign up as listeners. They've been through a lot and could help a lot of younger people going through similar struggles. If anyone has any recommendations or contacts at senior organizations, then it'd be great if you could share them with me. Thanks!

Thanks for posting these links. Nope, not a result of our PR efforts : ). I think we'll see a lot more research support for online treatments.

No problem. It is a valid point. We hear that from time to time. No worries!

Thank you. That comment means a lot to me. Good on you for taking the time to support your friend. Truth is we all hit hard times in life and often we just need a little extra support to get through.

Also, as you indicated, a lot of the old institutions just are not there to provide as much support. I also always think of the role neighbors used to play. I still have friendly conversation with my neighbors, but I would feel really uncomfortable leaning on them for support.

Thank you. Yes, the name comes from a famous Chinese poem titled "7 Cups of Tea" The basic idea is that each cup of tea brings a greater level of healing. Also, I just liked the name because it suggests meeting with a friend several times and having a conversation.

7 Cups of Tea founder here. I wanted to share a little back story with you on this. I'm an entrepreneur and have had my own fair share of challenges both in business and in regular life. My wife is a therapist. I'm incredibly fortunate to have her support. It occurred to me that it'd be great if people could have someone to talk with when they are struggling or going through a hard time. We built 7 Cups of Tea to solve that problem.

We have a long way to go, but the initial signs are promising. I'd love your feedback on how we can make it better. Thanks!

I used these guys for some fliers the other day and they were actually really beautiful. Very approachable and great customer service. I highly recommend them!

Zac and Dan know this space inside and out. I've dealt pretty extensively with Wells Fargo and I can tell you it is extraordinarily painful. These banks need all the help they can get.

Congrats Jarrett and John! Happy for you guys!