Talkspace, Bark Technologies partner to monitor children’s online activities

Virtual teletherapy company Talkspace is teaming up with online digital safety platform Bark Technologies to offer Talkspace’s mental health offering free of charge to Bark phone and Bark app users.  

Bark’s content monitoring platform aims to help families recognize potential dangers in children’s online activities. It provides mental health support by connecting children with therapists via live sessions or messaging. It also provides resources and tools to children 13 and older to help them navigate emotional challenges. 

End users can register with their email address and use Talkspace Go, a library of teen-appropriate self-guided exercises, content and videos designed by licensed therapists.

Some insurance plans cover the live video sessions and require parental consent in some states.

Bark products include Bark Watch, which monitors texts, tracks location and manages contacts on a smartwatch; the Bark Phone, a customizable “kid’s phone” with text and social media monitoring built-in; the Bark app, which scans a child’s online activities and sends timely alerts and tracks location and blocks websites; and Bark Home, an internet filter that manages screen time and filters websites on all internet-connected devices.
Brian Bason, Bark’s CEO, said that his company understands the complex ecosystem teens live in today and that Talkspace therapists have direct insights into the day-to-day challenges teens face.

“By partnering with Talkspace we now have a trusted resource for teens and their parents or guardians should they want professional support and it can all take place right on their Bark device,” Bason said in a statement. 

THE LARGER TREND 

In 2024, Talkspace entered into a strategic partnership with Wisdo Health, a social health and peer-support platform centered on combating loneliness. 

The collaboration aimed to increase access to mental health resources for people 65 and older while lowering healthcare costs, boosting member engagement and addressing the escalating mental health crisis that is pervasive among older adults.

That same year, Talkspace partnered with Amazon Health Services to help the tech giant’s customers check their eligibility for and enroll in Talkspace’s mental health services.

When Amazon customers search for terms such as “family therapy,” “sleep help” or “stress relief” on Amazon.com, they are given information about therapy and psychiatric services that can assist with these types of issues and check their employer or health plan benefits to determine if they have access to these services. 

Talkspace also partnered with the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) as the player advocates organization’s exclusive mental health technology partner to give players, their families and support teams free, 24/7 access to Talkspace’s self-guided therapy app, Talkspace Go and its virtual therapy offering at a discount.

Other companies involved in the mental health space for teens include The Child Mind Institute, a children’s mental health resource that partnered with the California Department of Healthcare Services earlier this month to launch Mirror, an intuitive mental health journaling app for teens. 

The Mirror app allows users to self-express and understand patterns in their mental health through daily mood tracking, guided prompts and voice, image, text or video entries. 

Last week, Woebot Health, maker of an AI-powered teen-focused mental health chatbot, emailed users to inform them that it was retiring its app as of June 30. 

Woebot’s nonprescription digital mental health tool includes content specific to teens, including media literacy, bullying in school settings, and body image and psychoeducation. 

In 2022, Woebot raised $9.5 million from Leaps by Bayer. The strategic investment came almost eight months after the company announced it raised $90 million in Series C funding. 

In 2021, Woebot received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its digital therapeutic treating postpartum depression.