Modern Health offers community-based therapy support benefit

Modern Health, a mental health benefits provider, has launched Circles, a series of live group therapy sessions guided by professionals, intended to provide employees with a safe community space to discuss and receive support to alleviate the stress they are under due to COVID-19 and other social issues.

Circles was originally developed to support employees that were struggling with the psychological stress brought on by the pandemic. But as social causes moved to the forefront of people’s minds, Modern Health evolved the mission pre-launch to support more holistic emotional well-being.

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Forty-one percent of Americans are more anxious now than they were one year ago, according to a poll by the American Psychiatric Association, and 43% say the pandemic has seriously impacted their mental health. For Black Americans, that stress was compounded in the wake of George Floyd’s murder; 41% have experienced depression or anxiety in the past year, according to the Census Bureau.

“The majority of people say this is the most stress they'd ever felt in their lives, and we wanted to find a way to meet that need,” says Dr. Myra Altman, vice president of clinical care at Modern Health. “That's where we really thought this one-to-many care delivery model could be really valuable. Employees can get a lot of information, resources and tools from a trained professional that can kind of help guide them through this.”

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Circles are led by professional therapists and coaches who utilize different clinically-derived formats that members can choose between — discussion, workshop or listen and learn — based on what they are looking to gain from the experience. Employees can actively participate and connect with other people in the workshops, or just sit back and listen. Employers can even create private, customized Circles for their employees only, focusing on themes specific to their workforce.

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More than 12,000 people have participated in Circles since the pilot program launched last summer, and about 90 employers have created custom Circles for their employees. Modern Health has also created social impact Circles to support the Black Lives Matter movement and healing Asian communities, among other focuses.

A survey of attendees across Circles found that 96% were likely to join another session, and 81% felt the experience gave them actionable steps to improve their well-being.

“We’re really seeing folks want to engage in care in this way within communities,” Altman says. “Circles is an easy entry point for people who then say ‘Oh yeah, I actually have been meaning to think a little bit more deeply about my professional well-being and mental health.’”