NEXTonSCENE LARKR to help Parkland Florida Students

Jaclyn Zukerman
Mar 11, 2018
2 min read

In the wake of February 14th's tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, mental health app LARKR donated up to $50,000 in free therapy sessions for students involved or impacted by the shooting. LARKR co-founders Shawn and Christianne Kernes are former residents of Parkland, who were active in the community and whose daughter previously attended the school.

We really admired how much they were giving back and offering to help so we wanted to interview the founders Shawn and Christianne to learn more about the app and how it can help YOU as a potential customer!

Tell us about how LARKR came about? How does it work?

"LARKR is a mental health smartphone app that significantly minimizes the top three barriers that keep an estimated 60% of Americans who suffer from mental illness from receiving care –price, accessibility and stigma. The app provides professional on-demand talk therapy with licensed therapists across the country....

In addition to its video therapy sessions, LARKR provides a variety of self-care resources such as free guided meditations and tools that remind users to do good deeds, track their daily moods and other tasks to maintain their mental wellness."

How do you hire your professionals on the app?

"Therapists are required to fill out an on boarding form that includes details on their education, licensing, insurance, experience and specialty. Once the form is filled out, LARKR’s onboarding specialists review the information and verify licensing and insurance status of the therapist. At the discretion of the onboarding specialist, they may choose to supplement the data provided with public records searches. If the therapist is eligible to work with LARKR, an onboarding call is scheduled to further vet the candidate as well as educate them on the details of working in the LARKR network."

We love that you can use it all from your phone, how long are the sessions? Are they billed by the minute or hour?

"Each 50-minute session with a certified mental health professional on LARKR is an affordable $85, compared to the national average of $200-$300."

Is the app accessible on all phones? Androids too?

"LARKR is currently available on iOS and available in the App Store.

It is coming soon to Android devices as well."