A while ago, Calmerry announced a significant update to its core system and functionality. The update in question promises improvements meant to address existing users' feedback and make the overall experience feel snappier and more flexible.
What does this mean in practice, and are these changes noticeable or just under-the-hood improvements? That's what we are going to look at in today's article.
So, whether you were on the fence about Calmerry in the past or it's your first time hearing about the platform - stick around! There are a lot of neat details to go through.
New Year, New Calmerry
First, a bit of context on what Calmerry is.
Calmerry is an online therapy platform originally launched in 2020. Its stated purpose was to provide people with budget-conscious therapy that provides flexibility and personalization of more premium price tags.
Largely, the platform managed to deliver, but there was a caveat. As the platform began to amass a larger audience, it became apparent that Calmerry could not handle a large influx of users.
In their announcement, Calmerry acknowledged that the old system, its core, wasn't fully equipped to handle the demand. This overhaul, three years in the making, promises to fix all of these issues while adding new features requested by their clientele.
So, what exactly has changed?
Key Changes
Flexible duration of sessions
Better session scheduling
New, revamped counselor chatroom
Fully rewritten system for better stability, speed, and modularity
Let's look at these points more in-depth to see what they entail.
New Flexible Session Durations
Mental health therapy should be about options - when, with whom, and how. Users can choose the session length from 30, 60, and 120 minutes with the system overhaul.
For those needing more time, online therapy sessions can now be stringed back-to-back, meaning that you can go from one 120-minute session into another, should you and your counselor agree on such terms.
That is definitely a welcome change that introduces more options to take therapy at one's own pace. Considering that Calmerry doesn't charge users for sessions but minutes, you can, for example, spend 30 minutes on the introductory session to get the "feel" of your online therapist and see if it's a good match.
If not, you can always switch to a different therapist at no extra cost. Once you've settled on the one you like, you can proceed with longer sessions to discuss heavier topics at length.
Schedule Multiple Sessions in Advance
Even more about scheduling. Previously, you could only schedule your next immediate session. It worked for many, but some people preferred to have more consistency with their schedule and plan for upcoming weeks or months.
Imagine a scenario where you're comfortable with having your sessions every odd Friday of the month. Still, you forget to schedule ahead, and your counselor is now busy during your regular time.
By letting users plan their sessions ahead of time, Calmerry now makes it easier to fit therapy sessions around your busy schedule.
Plus, it also gives some peace of mind to the therapists. They have multiple clients and other obligations to manage, and knowing their appointments for the upcoming month lets them manage their caseload easier.
Better Chatroom For Connecting With Your Therapist
Messaging is another thing that hasn't escaped overhaul. Messaging therapy is a popular option for many people that don't want to or don't have time for traditional sessions, so QOL improvements in that area are always welcome.
Suppose you have ever used any of the popular IMs. In that case, you shouldn't have issues adapting to these changes. The counselor chatroom now lets you do all those things you're familiar with - replying to specific messages, editing, embedding pictures, etc.
Chat now also has a Seen tracker, which should give peace of mind to the people wondering if the therapist had read their message. It's a welcome improvement that should make these conversations clear now, even if the changes are subtle.
A Revamped System Core: Calmerry 2.0?
Perhaps the ultimate reason behind this update is rewriting Calmerry's system from scratch.
I'm not a coder, so I can't tell you exactly what changed, but if we go by Calmerry's claims, the new system is much more stable and faster, especially for the app users.
If you have had many issues with the platform's performance, these issues should be long gone now.
Another emphasized point is the flexibility of this new system. While adding extra features or tweaking existing ones was a steep tumble in the past, the new system makes it easier for Calmerry to add even more things to the platform.
So, while it took a while to build a new foundation for the platform (almost three years), this suggests that new updates should take a lot less time and be much more exciting!
Again, I'm not a coder, but making this commitment - just scrapping everything and rebuilding from scratch - seems no small feat to me. I'm really happy that instead of resting on laurels and servicing the existing user base (that was probably OK with the past platform), Calmerry did something so drastic just because they were not satisfied with the quality of their offering.
Props to them.
Some Features Will Return Later
But there is never good news without a sprinkle of bad ones.
While the update brings a lot of improvements and changes, some existing features need a bit more time in the oven, according to Calmerry.
The first one is the therapy plan, a kind of planner that users and their therapists use to set and track goals for the therapy course. The company wasn't satisfied with the features realization, so they're pulling it down, for now, to present an improved version at a later date.
Granted, existing users with therapy services plans can access its archived copy, so at least not all of the progress is lost.
Self-help tips - a library of useful, therapy-adjacent content - is similarly unavailable, but Calmerry assures that it will return soon.
I won't deny that it might feel like a bummer for those who have extensively used those two things. Yet, if the quality of other updates is any indication, I'm certain that once they're back, they should be better than before. Let's just hope that users won't have to wait too long for them to return.
Looking Forward: What's Next for Calmerry?
Among all these quality-of-life features, it seems like the stability and performance of the platform were the main motivation behind the change, not to mention the purported flexibility that should make the development of new features easier.
So, while the existing features are welcome additions, I'm excited to see what the future holds for Calmerry and what new features they will roll out in the future.
That would be a question for Calmerry users as well, I suppose. In their blog announcement of this update, the company emphasized that both the original and new Calmerry are shaped by its users, their expectations, and their wants from the therapy platform.
Certainly, it might be just marketing talking, yet large overhauls like that are rarely done to entice new audiences. Rather, it feels like something made for those who already enjoy using Calmerry, so I would like to think that there isn't just air behind those claims.
Conclusion: Great Therapy Services Made Even Better
So there you have it. New Calmerry. What do you think about it?
The new scheduling options, as well as the improved chatroom, will be the things that users will instantly notice. Yet, it seems to me that it is the larger system overhaul that is the crowning jewel of this update.
And those new features are just a small sample of what is to come in the near future, especially given that we should be getting revamped therapy plan and self-help tips soon.
So, it does seem like a new era of Calmerry, and I always appreciate a company that listens to its users' concerns and doesn't just treat them like some white noise.
Certainly, some might say that these changes have been long overdue, and it was about time they were added. Healthy criticism is always warranted, but I am part of the camp that believes it's better to have a good thing later than a mediocre thing now. Besides, these system updates are in no way reflective of the therapy experience as a whole.
From all the accounts, Calmerry therapy has been and remains top-notch, and all this system update does is guarantee that there are no obstacles to enjoying therapy exactly the way they want it to be. And that's, I believe, the most important thing I want to see from mental health services. Everything else is just a nice bonus.
So, for those who liked Calmerry at large but felt that it lacked a certain oomph to justify the price, I think that this is it. Oomph in the flesh.
