Our mission at Paradym is to lead a movement towards more meaningful relationships with ourselves and others. While this may at first seem like a paradox for a tech-based app, there is a growing body of research which shows there are several benefits of tech-based apps for our mental health. 

We are committed to empowering every member of the global population with the tools they need for long term mental wellbeing and balance. In order to do this, we have worked hard with a team of psychological experts to create the Paradym process rooted in evidence, enabling you to deepen your self-knowledge through guided content, exercises and daily reflection. We believe wholeheartedly in the power of science, and we are committed to delivering the latest innovations in evidence-based psychological research through the Paradym app to help you on your emotional identity journey.

Evidence-based research is so important when we talk about mental health

While there have been a number of digital mental health interventions developed over the past few years, research shows that very few apps on the app store are in fact based on evidence – while some of them are at least evidence informed, many of them have not been tested for their effectiveness. In other words we don’t know whether they actually work. While this does not necessarily mean these apps are bad or ineffective, it does mean they can come with risks. 

Evidence-based means that a scientific study was conducted that yielded results to support the framework of the intervention and/or statements and recommendations made. In other words, there is evidence to show that certain methods work for a significant number of people.

Paradym is a complex mental health intervention which builds on insights from evidence-based psychology

Paradym adheres to the principles of evidence-based science in a number of ways. Firstly, Paradym can be considered a complex mental health intervention and therefore we aim to develop it in line with the Medical Research council (MRC) framework for complex intervention. To begin building Paradym, we first reviewed the existing scientific literature-  theories and evidence – around mental health and wellbeing. Based on this evidence-based literature, we made an assessment about what we should target to create the best interventions for our users. 

Secondly, all of the content in the Paradym app has been developed based on evidence-based psychological interventions. We build on insights from Schema Therapy which is an integrative psychotherapy, combining theory and techniques from very many other evidence-based therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and psychoanalysis. In addition we draw on Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Schema Therapy has not only been compared to other kinds of therapy but it has also been tested in Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) which are the gold standard of psychological research, proving it’s effectiveness.  

Finally, we support all of this with personal stories of people, in real life, who have struggled and found emotional freedom. In the app, we reflect on these stories both from an evidence-based and clinical mental health perspective, to not only help users increase their understanding and knowledge of mental health topics, but also with the intention that the combination of both personal stories and evidence-based science will help empower them to be more resilient and emotionally attuned. 

So far, we have evaluated previous versions of the Paradym app, which have come across as effective from a user perspective. In addition to this, we have also been able to establish preliminary evidence, based on qualitative data, that indicated that users found Paradym helpful and that it has a positive impact on their lives. 

The next step will be to put Paradym out into the wild to find out when it works, for who and how we can improve it further

In the long run, the aim is to be an evidence-based mental health app. That means not just building on evidence-based insights but also proving that Paradym is effective as a complex digital health intervention. This involves a number of stages – evaluation, testing, refinement and finally establishing the evidence-base for Paradym. 

Our immediate next steps will be a pilot and feasibility trial to prepare for a more controlled study design. However for now, our focus is putting Paradym out into the wild to find out its potential for when it works, for who and how we can improve it further.