New mental health clinic opens in Edmonton

A new therapy clinic has opened in Edmonton. The founder and CEO of DiveThru, Sophie Gray says she designed the clinic to make therapy easier to access for ‘today’s generation.’

“We say that we’re focusing on today’s generation, and that could be a 15-year-old that could also be a 50-year-old. Really, it’s not an age, it’s a characteristic of a person that’s looking for a safe and welcoming space,” she says.

“We’re really bringing in that tech piece to really make sure that we’re serving this generation how they’re already acting online. So having the matching, having easy booking and having resources after the fact.

Gray says she created a space she wishes she had when she was going through her own mental health journey.

“I struggled with my mental health my whole life. In my teens, I struggled with self-harm and a suicide attempt. And during that process, I never accessed support that felt relatable. It always felt cold or clinical. So at Divethru, we really wanted to create this space, to be somewhere that everyone can come to, see themselves reflected in it, feel safe, feel welcomed, and access the help that they need,” she explained.

“I never accessed support that felt relatable. It always felt cold or clinical. So when I was really looking to create DiveThru, I wanted it to be this safe space for people to see themselves reflected in, and I think that’s I guess really what I was missing.”

DiveThru is a bright, colourful space, designed to make clients feel welcome and safe.

“Our goal is to have people unashamed about their mental health, but we know that’s not true. There’s a huge mental health stigma, so taking that first step to reach out is really scary. And then when you actually take that leap to pick up the phone, or go online to search for someone, it’s an intimidating process,” says Dr. Lily Le, who is the director of clinical innovation at DiveThru.

“We are trying to streamline that here by breaking the stigma a bit with our interiors, with our branding, with our language, to say ‘hey, you want to work on your mental health? This is normal, this is cool, this is like going to the gym. Look at everyone else doing it.’”

It all started from a free journaling app that was created in 2019, but has since evolved into a physical space where clients can meet with a therapist in-person.

“Divethru started actually as a journaling app. Journaling is always the tool that connected with me the most. From there we evolved into more of a psycho-education platform. So we have journaling exercises, mindfulness exercises, routines, courses, articles, and from there this is our next step to bringing it into this physical space here,” says Gray.

“Journaling is always the tool that connected with me the most. From there we evolved into more of a psycho-education platform. I wanted to create this complete experience, knowing that the work you do in the room doesn’t stop there.”

The mental health app was created by psychologists and has a range of self-guided resources where you can check in with your feelings, ground with your breathing, and journal and reflect.

Gray also says finding a psychologist who is a good fit for your mental health needs can be a long process. DiveThru hopes to help people avoid the stress of finding the right expert through their matching questionnaire.

“For us through the matching, we have kind of two areas where I’m matching on: the tangibles, you know you’re an individual looking for help with anxiety. And then also more of the characteristics you’re looking for in a therapist. You know, you’re looking for a woman, you’re looking for a person of color. Whatever it might be to really make sure that you’re finding that right fit that can best help you and your needs,” she says.

“One of those shocking things we’ve found is some people have been looking for a therapist for over a year. I think that is so upsetting. Because accessing that help, it’s not something you can put off for a year. You need help now, and we really wanted to make that experience easy for people to find the support they need.”

“Our online platform is really created to make this a more seamless experience, so you can come into our online platform, go through a matching tool that takes around 5 minutes, find the best therapist for you, book very easily with them either in this space or virtually, and then after the fact you can actually access these resources to support the work you are doing in the room,” says Gray.

Dr. Le says they were very intentional when choosing their nine therapists. “I am so proud of our team, and the team leads cultivated here.”

“Our nine therapists, they are trauma-informed, they’re providing culturally sensitive care, they’re all masters-level trained clinicians and they’re really passionate about their work and helping the community.”