Wysa App Overview

Wysa is a mobile health app that aims to support its users with mild mental health issues, like anxiety and depression, through an AI-enabled Chatbot (Wysa the Penguin) that delivers messages in a text-like environment employing fundamental teachings drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness meditation, yoga, and other relaxation tools. Wysa is marketed as your ‘4 am friend’ that is empathetic, helpful, a great listener, and will never judge you. Best of all, Wysa doesn’t care who you are or where you come from, your identity will always remain anonymous, and your conversations will stay just between the two of you. You can think of Wysa as the BFF you’ve always wanted. One that will motivate you and keep your secrets as tightly secure as Fort Knox. 

Wysa will become the ultimate happiness buddy and can support you through the good days and bad as you deal with stress, grief, or poor sleep issues, such as insomnia, using science as a foundation to strengthen your mental wellness. Regardless of what you’re dealing with, Wysa will be there to help you relax and dig yourself out of the hole you’ve fallen into. With the ability to chat with Wysa around the clock, there is no need for you to feel alone. Wysa is an emotionally intelligent chatbot that uses AI to react to all the emotions and experiences you share. 

Wysa is not only an AI-enabled Chatbot that will become your next bestie, it’s also a great tool to help you rewire the way your mind works to improve your mental health. Using Wysa’s evidence-based CBT and DBT techniques, you’ll be able to stave off stress and declare depression a thing of the past with the self-help tools provided to you at no cost. 

Suppose you feel like you need just a little human interaction or some extra support. In that case, Wysa offers its users access to their trained Coaches and licensed therapists that will help you identify and work towards your mental health and wellness goals. This feature must be unlocked and requires a nominal fee. 

How Does Wysa Work?

Wysa is an AI-enabled chatbot (a super cute penguin) who is able to coach you on how to better cope with life’s daily stresses. Wysa was uniquely designed to help with a variety of issues, including relationships, anger, body image, self-esteem, sleep, LGBTQ+ related, and much more. Delivering text-based messages using CBT based teachings, Wysa can offer various tools to help you cope with feelings of distress. 

Once you decide to download the app, you will be prompted to select the areas you’re looking to focus on. This is important as it will direct you to self-care tools specifically curated for you, depending on how you’re feeling. Your home screen is divided into a few sections that are easy to toggle back and forth from. You can choose to chat with Wysa, listen to mindful meditation sessions, or complete self-care activities. 

Chatting with Wysa

Chatting with Wysa is easy and, honestly, pretty fun. Wysa greets you in a friendly way by asking you how you’re doing. You will be presented with a few options and a text box so you can type in personalized responses. From there, depending on how you’re feeling or the information you entered, Wysa will guide you through cognitive reframing, breathing exercises, and other strategies that are appropriate for your response. Wysa is always encouraging and will suggest resources or tools along the way that can help you navigate your feelings.

You are also given the opportunity to connect with a licensed therapist through the app (for a nominal amount), and in case of crisis or emergency, there is an SOS button that will directly connect you with the appropriate helpline. 

Wysa Well-being Coaching and Therapy Sessions

Wysa, the AI Chatbot is an excellent tool for those wanting to talk through their worries, doubts, and daily stresses surrounding various mental health issues. However, sometimes, we need a little extra one-on-one help from an actual human. That’s where the Well-being Coaches and Licensed Therapists come in. The coaching and therapy service is a text-based online messaging service with an experienced or licensed mental health professional.  

Well-being Coaches

The Well-being Coaches employed by Wysa apply motivational interview and life coaching techniques that will help you work towards your personal wellness goals. The service focuses on helping you build wellness and emotional resilience with the underlying principle that you have the knowledge and wherewithal to actually make changes in your life. They will support you in finding your own way as you use your newly found strengths and abilities. 

Licensed Therapists

A Wysa Therapist uses the key CBT principles centered around supportive listening and motivational interviewing for you to take control of your mental and emotional well-being. A Wysa therapist will listen to your worries empathetically, promote positivity, and support you in making successful lifestyle changes to better manage life’s situations as you build emotional resilience. Wysa Therapists are qualified global mental health professionals who provide you with daily check-ins and four live sessions for under $50 a month. 

It is important to mention that even though the Coaches and Therapists are trained mental health professionals that will listen, support, and motivate you to achieve your goals, the Wysa Therapy services are not intended to be a replacement for face-to-face psychotherapy. They will not provide you with a diagnosis, treatment, or medication for your condition or disorder. They can only provide suggestions that their users seek out professional medical help in their state or country of residence.    

Is Wysa a Robot or a Human?

You may be asking yourself this question because, at first, we too were unsure. The answer is both. Wysa, the AI Chatbot penguin, is a robot that will learn and grow with each interaction. Wysa is also a team of well-being coaches and therapists that just so happen to be human. They are mental health professionals that are trained and licensed to listen and support you through more complicated times. 

Where Wysa the AI Penguin is restricted, the Wysa mental health team will step in to help you define and achieve your goals. Yes, Wysa the AI penguin can empathetically talk you through your struggles and provide you with evidence-based tools and techniques to best manage your emotions; Wysa cannot provide you a diagnosis, treatment, or cure for any mental health condition or disorder. The Wysa app is not intended to replace traditional talk therapy but to be used in tandem as you find the best path to feeling better.   

Is Wysa Right for You?

Wysa is best suited for those dealing with mild mental health conditions and is looking for a place to vent and talk through things or simply reflect on the day’s ongoings with your new BFF, the Wysa AI Chatbot penguin. Some other reasons Wysa could be right for you is if you want to:

• Practice CBT, DBT, or Mindfulness techniques in a fun way.

• Use 40+ conversational coaching tools to help you deal with stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, worry, loss, or relationship issues.

• Relax, focus, sleep peacefully with the help of over 20 mindful meditation exercises. 

• Manage your anger using evidence-based breathing techniques

• Manage conflict at work, school, or in relationships using mindfulness and visualization techniques, such as gratitude meditation and exercises to build skills in having difficult conversations. 

Wysa is not for those needing assistance with a crisis such as abuse, severe mental health conditions that may cause feelings of suicide, wanting to hurt yourself or others, severe bullying issues, eating disorder-related issues, and other medical emergencies. 

Wysa was not intended for children under the age of 13. 

If you or someone you love is experiencing a life-threatening situation, please:

• Call 911 or  your local authorities

• Reach out to the suicide prevention hotline (U.S. Only) at 1-800-273-8255 

• Text, HOME to 741741

Is Wysa Credible?

Many people say the best things in life happen by accident. This is precisely what happened with Wysa. While the founders were working on building machine learning models to detect depression, they stumbled upon the realization that people actually enjoyed learning from their own skills on building emotional resilience. 

They also learned that privacy is key, which is why Wysa is and will always be anonymous. Wysa complies with the NHS DCB 0129 standard for clinical safety. They encrypt all their data using strong TLS encryptions, and their servers are hosted and managed by industry leaders in the provision of cloud hosting services that have strict GDPR and HIPAA compliant security programs.   

The Wysa app has been endorsed as the Best App for COVID-19 related stress and anxiety by ORCHA, the world’s leading health app evaluation agency. 

How Much Does Wysa Cost?

Because Wysa values mental health and wellbeing and understands that we’re all facing difficult times, Wysa’s AI chat and limited tools for anxiety and isolation support will remain free until further notice. 

• Wysa AI Chatbot and limited self-care tools - FREE

• Wysa AI Chatbot and premium tools - $11.99/month

• Unlimited chatting with Wysa the AI-enabled Chatbot and 100+ guided exercises 

  • $74.99/year after 7-day FREE trial

  • $219 for a Lifetime

• Wysa Therapy - $144 (billed quarterly)

• Live chat session every week

• Unlimited messaging support with Wysa and a Well-being Coach

• Premium self-care library

What Do We Think of Wysa?

We think Wysa is cooler than cool. With the adorable, encouraging, and empathetic AI-enabled Chatbot penguin at the helm, backed by evidence-based therapy techniques, and guided meditations, Wysa is an excellent choice for those wanting to build better wellness habits and address the days social-emotional challenges head-on.

Wysa is best suited for those dealing with minor mental health concerns and is intended to work most effectively when paired with IRL (in real life) psychotherapy from a trusted online or in-person therapist.  

Our recommendation: skip the website (it’s not the selling point) and go directly to the App Store or Google Play and download the app to give it a try today!