You can now join a small group led by a licensed therapist, every week or every two weeks, from your phone. Here’s why we built it, what it can help with, and how to join.
Group therapy has arrived on Mytherapist.ng. A group meets on video at the same time every week or every two weeks. It has up to twelve people and is led by a licensed therapist. In the app, each group is called a circle. Open the Therapy tab and tap Group therapy to see the circles you can join.
Why we built it
Stress at work, becoming a parent, living far from family, losing someone: these can feel like problems you carry alone. Talking to a therapist one-to-one helps. So can sitting with a few people going through the same thing, and hearing them say out loud what you’ve been carrying quietly.
Cost matters too. The group shares the therapist’s time, so a circle starts at ₦5,000 a month. That makes meeting every week easier to keep up.
Group therapy isn’t new. Therapists have run groups for a long time, and studies have found they help many people with low mood, anxiety and stress. We wanted it to be as easy to join as a one-to-one session already is.
What a circle can help with
- Feeling less alone with it. Hearing someone describe your exact situation can take some of the weight off.
- Ideas that worked for someone else. Members share what they’ve tried, and the therapist helps the group make sense of it.
- Practice saying it out loud. Once you’ve said something in a circle, it can be easier to say it elsewhere.
- A steady routine. The same people at the same time each week gives you something to come back to.
Each circle has a topic, like work stress or new parents. Read the description before you join to see who it’s for.
What a circle isn’t
A circle is not the right place when you’re in crisis. It also doesn’t replace one-to-one therapy if you need to go deep into something personal. You can do both: keep a one-to-one therapist and join a circle too.
How privacy works
- You choose what the circle calls you: your first name or an alias. Nobody sees your surname.
- Sessions are never recorded, and every member agrees not to record or take screenshots.
- Every member agrees that what is shared in the circle stays in the circle.
- Your answers to the joining questions go to the therapist who leads the circle. Other members never see them.
How to join
- Open the Therapy tab in the Mytherapist.ng app and tap Group therapy.
- Pick a circle. Its page shows who leads it, what it’s for, when it meets and what it costs.
- Tap Join and answer two quick questions: whether you’ve had therapy before, and how things are right now.
- Choose the name the circle will see, read the circle agreement and pay for your first block.
What it costs
You pay by the block, not by the session. A circle that meets every week has 4 sessions in a block, and one that meets every two weeks has 2. A circle costs ₦5,000 to ₦50,000 a month, depending on the price the therapist sets. You see the full price before you pay.
- Pay from your wallet or by card. If you pay by card, we keep it for your next block.
- The next block is charged a few days before it starts. You can stop at any time. The sessions you’ve already paid for still run, and nothing more is charged.
- Mytherapist.ng Prime members pay 20% less for every block. See What is Mytherapist.ng Prime?
- If a session doesn’t run, it’s added back to your block. That includes when the therapist cancels or too few people have joined. If you miss a session that did run, it isn’t added back.
On the day
- The room opens 10 minutes before the start. Join from the circle’s page in the app.
- Fifteen minutes after the start, the room closes to anyone who hasn’t joined yet, unless the therapist lets late arrivals in. Try to be on time.
- When you leave, you can write a note that only your therapist sees. If something felt off, you can report a concern about someone in the circle. It goes to the therapist and our support team.
If you’re struggling right now
When you join, if you answer that you might be in crisis, we’ll connect you to one-to-one support first and nothing is charged. If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 112 (or 767 in Lagos) or Safe Place Nigeria on 0800 800 2000. The full list is at Helplines.
