Hey there,

In case you missed it, we recently sent out the first invitations to join Helicon.

What’s Helicon?

In short, it’s a platform built specifically for EMDR therapists.

Members can search our private consultant directory, track consultation hours alongside their consultant, find guides and partner discounts, access private virtual events with subject matter experts, and connect with other EMDR therapists in our private Signal group.

Now that the first invites have gone out, I wanted to use today’s email to explain why we built Helicon, and why we built it the way we did (especially if you’re curious about joining when we launch publicly).

Why EMDR Therapists Need More Support

Think back to the weeks after you finished basic training.

You had the eight phases, a manual, a handful of clients you tried EMDR with, and then you went back to your caseload and started trying to use it. Maybe a colleague down the hall let you ask questions, or you found a consultant right away. Maybe it took months of emails.

For most EMDR therapists, the support that got them from trained to skilled was whatever they could piece together on their own.

That's a problem for all of us.

There aren't nearly enough EMDR therapists to begin with, only about 2 out of every 100 licensed therapists specialize in EMDR. EMDR, the modality that’s been said to ‘breathe new life’ into a burned out therapists’ career. Meanwhile, around 45 percent of therapists report burnout, and between 30 and 60 percent leave their organizations each year.

If we want more people to have access to EMDR, we need more therapists who get good at it and stay in the field.

Most of what helps an EMDR therapist get good comes from others: consultation, feedback, colleagues to talk through a stuck case with, and a path to certification you can manage alongside a full caseload. I don't believe any of that should be automated (because the relationship is where most of the learning happens), but everything around it could be a lot easier.

Finding the right consultation match the first time, without spending weeks or months searching, vetting, and deciding? Tracking hours in separate spreadsheets and hoping they match up at the end? Marketing to aligned clients who are a good fit for EMDR?

Software is good at fixing these kinds of problems.

The issue is that almost all the software in the field is built to deliver and bill sessions, so it mostly serves clinics, insurance companies, and practice owners. Very little of it has been built to help therapists grow. And even less has been built by and for EMDR therapists, with their unique challenges in mind.

Until now.

But first, why hasn't anyone built this already?

The Problem With Most Mental Health Tech

If you're wary of tech companies in mental health, I get it. A lot of us have seen platforms promise to help therapists and then cut rates, push more volume, raise their fees, or use our data in ways we never agreed to.

I would like to think many founders don’t actually set out to do that.

The issue is, most startups are funded with venture capital, which expects a big return within about seven to ten years. When growth slows down, the therapists on the platform are usually the easiest place to find more money.

That same funding model is why nobody built something like Helicon (a platform built to help EMDR therapists grow) sooner. EMDR is too small a specialty to give a venture fund the kind of return it's looking for.

So we built it ourselves.

How (and Why) We Built Helicon Differently

We've seen how this venture-backed funding model tends to play out for therapists and their clients (not good), so the first decisions we made about Helicon were about structure.

Here’s what we decided to do:

Helicon is a Delaware public benefit corporation. That means our public benefit is written into our charter, and our directors are legally required to weigh it alongside shareholder returns. We also haven't raised venture capital. We're bootstrapping, we're open to angel investors who share the vision, and the platform runs on member subscriptions.

That means you're joining a platform that answers to its members (not investors) with a commitment to therapists written into its charter.

Helicon is clinician-led. I'm an EMDRIA Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant, and I still see a full caseload of EMDR clients. Our advisory team includes experienced EMDR clinicians and people focused on staying aligned with EMDRIA's standards. People who've been both consultees and consultants know which problems are worth solving, and they bring the profession's ethics about confidentiality, autonomy, and the therapeutic relationship into every decision we make.

That means the platform is built by people who've run into the same frustrations you have. Our rule from the start has been to give therapists better tools and then stay out of the way of how they deliver care.

Helicon is also disabled-veteran owned. I served in the Marine Corps and was wounded in combat - EMDR is a big part of why I'm still here. I know from the inside how much trauma veterans, first responders, and emergency medical workers carry, and how hard it can be for them to find a clinician trained to help. Getting EMDR to more of the people who build, serve, and sustain our society is a big part of our long-term vision. It's also why I want Helicon to run with the same service ethic a lot of us learned in uniform, where the mission and the people beside you come before personal gain.

That means Helicon is built for the long haul, by someone who has seen firsthand what EMDR can do for the people who need it most.

Where We Are Now

Helicon now has real therapists on the platform finding each other, tracking consultation hours and competencies, and seeing first-hand what a platform with this kind of vision entails. Every week the code improves, the platform improves, and our capacity to make a real difference in the field grows larger. A few things we’ve heard so far:

• “I’m so excited to have something that solves the timekeeping headache with my consultees!”
• “Wow, it really shows how much effort you’ve put into this. Thank you!”
• “It’s so nice to have a single place to keep all of my EMDR consultation organized and on track.”
• “I’m excited to see where this can go as the network grows bigger!”

Helicon doesn't aim to replace EMDRIA, it doesn't change anything about certification requirements, and there's a lot on our roadmap we haven't built yet. Because we aren't taking venture money, our members help decide what gets built next through their feedback, and their subscriptions are what keep us independent.

We're still early, which means the therapists who get in now will have the biggest say in what Helicon becomes. If you'd like an invite, join the waitlist below and we'll send one your way as we open more spots.

​Sign-up to be Notified​

If you have questions about Helicon, just hit reply and I'd be happy to answer.

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Until next time,

Chris

Thanks for reading Helicon's EMDR Therapist Weekly, where we aim to provide a weekly dose of insights, tools, and opportunities for EMDR therapists; designed to support your growth, sharpen your practice, and connect you with what's next.

If you're not already subscribed, subscribe here. You can also click here to learn about what Helicon is building, or sign up to be notified when the platform is publicly available, if you're an EMDR provider and want to connect with others on the same path.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is for informational purposes only. This is not legal or clinical advice and we make no guarantees about the outcomes or results from information shared in this document. Proceed at your own risk and discretion.​
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