Dr Louise Metcalf is a psychologist and the Founder and CEO of Gheorg, an online robot who helps kids with anxiety. Louise’s vision and clever approach to design has resulted in an educational and loveable online character that families can easily download as an app and introduce to their child. In this episode, Louise shares her story with irresistible enthusiasm and energy. From her clinical career spanning thirty-plus years as a practising psychologist to her move into the digital mental health tech world.
Key takeaways:
- Psychologists are valuable in developing technology as they provide valuable insight into how humans need to interact with technology. They also understand why solutions work (and don’t work) in the real world. You can’t build great technology without that experience.
- Gheorg is an acronym for ‘Gentle to Humans, Emotion & thought Organisation & Resilience Guide.’ He’s currently built for seven- to twelve-year-olds, and for now, manifests as a virtual robot (although Louise has plans to make a robot body in the future!).
- Childhood anxiety is on the rise. Five years ago, childhood anxiety was 8%. At the beginning of last year, the official numbers were around 20%. During the pandemic, the limited number of studies done (which includes UNICEFs) show childhood anxiety levels had increased to a staggering 50%!
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