By Brittany Dubeck & Sean King
As part of our series of interviews with WELL business leaders, we sat down with Marion Adams to discuss the origins of Focus Mental Wellness, the benefits of virtual therapy to Canadians, and how WELL has helped Focus Mental Wellness grow.
Q: Hi Marion, we’re so happy you’re taking the time to chat with us today. The first thing we’d like to do is get to know you a little better!
For sure! So, I grew up in Toronto, and have basically spent my entire life being fascinated by human behaviour, which led me to study sociology at Queen’s University after high school.
I guess I wasn’t quite finished learning with my degree from Queen’s – I needed to understand more about why we do the things we do. At the time I was also keen to ‘get out of the Toronto bubble’ and live somewhere totally different.
So, I moved to London, UK and did my Master’s in Social Cognition at UCL, which is the study of behavioural economics – biases, heuristics that drive our behaviour, and the reasons why we make rational, or much more commonly, irrational decisions.
After I got my Master’s, I needed to figure out a way to stay in London – legally – and also wanted to continue my work in something to do with the study of human behaviour. That ended up being market research, specializing in healthcare.
Eventually, I moved back to Toronto and realized I could either continue to work in market research or pursue an idea I had way back at Queen’s University: starting an online therapy company.
Q: Can you explain where your idea for online therapy came from and what was your motivation for founding Focus Mental Wellness?
While I was at university, there were a number of student deaths by suicide within an incredibly short period of time. And for a university of that size, it was really quite devastating.
I knew one of those students well. It was just the biggest shock. My friends and I were grief-stricken.
I went from being a relatively normal student to having trouble getting out of bed. Eventually, I realized I wasn’t getting better, and that I couldn’t carry on like that.
I needed to take control of the situation and see a therapist. But when I went to the counselling services on campus, they couldn’t see me for several weeks due to capacity issues, which at the time I assumed was the impact of all the suicides on campus, but I knew I needed help right away!
While trying to figure out how to get through the next few days and weeks, I searched online for virtual therapy services and realized there was nothing. It was hard to leave my bed anyway. I thought that something like therapy over FaceTime may have been the best solution at the time.
But there really was no online therapy available at the time. That was the moment for me, and it always stuck with me.
So, when I eventually moved back to Toronto from London years later, I did a bit of research and found that still, nobody was really offering this service and it was clear to me that this is what I need to do. So, I reached out to a therapist I found online, Greg Rennie, my co-founder at Focus, and we made the decision to take a leap of faith and follow this idea. And, well, here we are six years later!
Q: Can you give us a better idea of exactly what Focus Mental Wellness does?
It’s simple! Focus connects people seeking mental health support with licensed, caring mental health professionals. All you do is go to the Focus Mental Wellness website, enter some basic information, and get matched with a therapist that best suits your needs. If want to speak to a different therapist, you can choose someone else or get a one-on-one care coordinator session to help you find the best match.
The appointment types available are through text, video, or phone therapy, so you can communicate with your therapist the way you need to. Then, it’s just a case of selecting the time and date of your first session.
Super easy, and we also provide a confirmation email and a receipt for insurance purposes for all our services.
Q: You founded Focus Mental Wellness alongside Greg, with WELL Health investing in 2021. Can you talk to us about how and why you decided to take that step?
I was introduced to WELL by a friend at another WELL company, Adracare, and ended up meeting with Hamed Shahbazi, WELL Health’s CEO. It was quite organic. It was more of a conversation than a pitch. We spoke about what the pandemic had looked like from the perspective of an online therapy provider. So, I didn’t actually meet with Hamed to solicit funding, although we had been talking to other investors.
Our goal is simple, we want to make mental health care more accessible to Canadians, both logistically and financially.
Ultimately, we decided that WELL was a great fit for several reasons, a major factor was that being under the WELL Health umbrella provides exciting opportunities and synergies that would help us achieve that goal.
For example, GPs are the gateway to mental health services in Canada, and WELL is the largest clinic owner-operator in the country. That large network and other opportunities under the WELL umbrella help us reach clients we normally wouldn’t who could benefit from virtual therapy.
Q: What else has being part of the WELL Health Family allowed you to do?
Shortly after we joined the WELL family, I emailed Hamed asking, “how happy are you with WELL’s employee mental health program?” Yeah, a little bold perhaps but I thought ‘why not!?’
That sparked conversations with Shane Sabatino (WELL’s Chief People Officer) and we created a bespoke mental health program for WELL using Focus. And the program launched soon after in February 2022.
This mental wellness program provides WELL team members with a confidential and free first session each year with a qualified therapist at Focus, plus heavily discounted follow-up sessions.
We also collaborated on ‘WELL March’, a month of free unlimited therapy for WELL team members. We had a lot of traffic, and it was really exciting to see so many people take advantage of the offer! It helped demonstrate how our platform and services work and gave people the chance to see that therapy isn’t scary!
Using the program we pioneered with WELL Health as a guide, we developed an Employee Mental Wellness Program that offers businesses and associations a chance to support their employee’s mental health as well.
We want employers to have a simple, effective way to ensure their teams can get the support they need. Because ultimately, as I mentioned, our goal is to make mental wellness support accessible and affordable to all Canadians.
Our Employee Mental Wellness Program is easy to understand. No complex agreements, no admin fees, and no long-term obligations.
We want organizations to feel like working with Focus is one of the easiest decisions a business leader can make.
Q: What do you see as the future of mental health services?
I see a future where mental health support becomes a central aspect of the universal Canadian healthcare system, and seeing a therapist becomes as ubiquitous and socially accepted as visiting the dentist or going to the gym. Where you don’t just go when you’re feeling down or anxious, you see a therapist to maintain your overall health and wellness.
Looking further ahead, I’m particularly excited about the potential applications of therapy – and healthcare in general – delivered in the metaverse. Which might actually be able to offer the best of both in-person and virtual! We’ll see though – there’s a lot more to learn about this space!
Q: What inspires you?
Working with our therapists is the most inspiring part of what I do every day. They are some of the most kind, compassionate, and intelligent people I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing.
They carry the weight of so many people’s struggles and the fact they can do that effectively and professionally, is truly inspiring to me.
Our clients consistently inspire me as well. I’ve heard some really heartbreaking stories. And I’ve seen some of those same people come out the other end, in large part because of the support of their therapist.
Being part of that journey, even in a minor way in comparison to our therapists, is extremely gratifying. There are very tough days when you’re an entrepreneur, it’s those stories and the therapists I’m surrounded by who keep me going!
Q: What’s the best part of being part of WELL Health?
It’s the feeling of being supported, listened to, and appreciated. Investors often have a really not-so-nice reputation. They’re known for being extremely demanding, and at times deliberately intimidating, but I’ve always experienced an enormous amount of support from WELL.
That is what I appreciate the most about WELL, the confidence in our vision and our mission.
