EMBRACE NEWS
We got 3rd place!
Our team made it to the final Pitch competition for MIT's 2023 Creative Arts Competition, and we proudly reach third place out of 41 applicants.
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THE PROBLEM
10 weeks
on average is what a patient has to wait in America for a therapy session
More than 50% of patients drop off before their first session.
Patients lose motivation and are less likely to complete all therapy sessions.
OUR SCOPE
Your healing journey can't wait
We know there are many problems regarding mental health, but we believe that having a defined space to focus is key. Our space: waiting for the first session. Once survivors have bravely sought help, we want to keep them as engaged as possible and maximize that time.
OUR PROPOSAL & KEY FEATURES
How might we maximize therapy even before the first therapy session?
Gamified Psychoeducation
Many of the first therapy sessions are about education. Embrace equips the user with key concepts present in a friendly and gamified format.
Introducing Embrace, an AI-powered therapist co-pilot designed to create a new therapy experience for patients and therapists. We facilitate patients' creative self-expression of their stories/goals through EAT, an empowering healing mode.
Avatar design
Inclusivity and representation are some of our key priorities throughout our experience. Users can pick either from a human-resemble avatar or create a completely new creature.
Life-long journey
Users would be able explore their past stories and future scenarios and goals.
Characterization of positive and negative elements
Monsters and fairies will be used to help users to easily-identifed the connotation of elements, stories, and reflections.
Visualization of Story (AI)
Confronting our traumas can be excrutianing and many times words don't easily come. We believe art therapy through generative AI is an ideal way to help users engage upon their stories.
Analytics for self-awareness
Users will have access to a dashboard to track their goals and reflect on their progress.
Differentiators
What makes our solution apart from others?
INCLUSIVITY
To overcome the language barrier, our app is available in English and Spanish. Additionally, the avatar creation will aim for representation (ethnitcity, gender).
CO-CREATED WITH EXPERTS
Researchers, experts in art therapy, and experienced trauma therapists, have helped to define our problem space and validate our solution's features.
AI COMPONENTS
Our product needs high levels of customization that can only be reached through AI. We are relying on generative art to help users express their unique stories.
OUR JOURNEY SO FAR
Incubators and accelerators programs we've been part of
Our Team
Compassion + Expertise
Diverse careers, diverse origins, same goal: helping others. The Embrace team is conformed by multidisciplinary professionals from MIT, Harvard, and Lesley University.
SUPPORT
What are the experts saying?
“The waiting time is even worst for Spanish-speaking patients...I try to give them some exercises and videos to watch because I know it will be a long time before I see them...This could be extremely useful, because there's more control in goals and stages”
Liz Tito -
Therapist at Rush Hospital
“Putting clinicians on a similar footing as the client could improve the empathy if they both used the app to share together. That would be very useful and would be a great resource."
Professor Loren Gomez -
Educational Psychologist, Mental Health Counselor