Webcam consultation helps The Helpnet consultants

Interview with Joanna Bessert-Nettelbeck of international online care platform The Helpnet

From September 2020, The Helpnet and Webcamconsult will work together. Joanna Bessert-Nettelbeck is the inspired founder of the international online care platform and aims to help at least 10,000 clients annually, especially preventively. She does this together with psychotherapists and care coaches around the world.

 From September 2020, The Helpnet and Webcamconsult will work together. Joanna Bessert-Nettelbeck is the inspired founder of the international online care platform and aims to help at least 10,000 clients annually, especially preventively. She does this together with psychotherapists and care coaches around the world.

A coach in intra- and interpersonal communication, Joanna knows from practice how The Helpnet can make a difference.

Joanna: "Before September 2020, we were still using a video consultation platform from someone in our network. But there is quite a lot involved in setting up and continuously developing something like this. Besides the hefty investments it entails. We needed something closer to our needs. Through an ICT colleague, I came into contact with Bert van Gerwen of Webcamconsult. My colleague especially thought integration with WordPress was a must. Webcamconsult has that integration and for us this was the easiest way to start The Helpnet in a professional way."

The Helpnet currently has about 50 mental health advisers. The main focus is prevention. Specialities are divided into around 20 categories. For example, the Swiss company offers help in the areas of depression, burnout, anxiety disorder, eating disorder and drug abuse. On the website, clients find the right counsellor, register, get acquainted and then start the consultation. All support is done online.

"We give our clients the opportunity to have an orientation meeting with our coaches. It is important to speak to someone who suits you, otherwise treatment is not going to work. In doing so, we try to keep it as casual as possible, without the stigma of being mentally ill. People need to understand that they need help and seek the help that suits them by people who are trained in this.
Within The Helpnet, we focus mainly on prevention, which is why we also have quite a few coaches, in addition to our therapists. My personal belief is also that prevention is better than cure. My motivation was never to make money, but to help people. This motivation stems from personal circumstances.
Having seen up close what huge consequences it has to have narcissistic parents. It can create dysfunction in children and that, if you don't do anything about it, is passed on generation after generation. This can be prevented if people get help earlier. I want to get ahead of problems before they take over your life.
If you feel good about yourself, you don't have to ruin another person's life. If you are mentally healthy, you are able to help others or handle a situation well."

If you are mentally healthy, you are able to help others or handle a situation well.

The Helpnet has two different websites where The Helpnet specialises in care from the individual healthcare provider and The Helpnet Medical supports large healthcare organisations like hospitals, for example, with remote care. Clients on The Helpnet bill directly with their healthcare provider via the payment options in Webcamconsult. They can claim this bill, depending on their healthcare provider.

"We are currently in talks with insurers to establish a direct link with The Helpnet. This will allow clients to claim healthcare costs immediately instead of submitting them separately to their health insurer. In many cases, our psychotherapists are covered by insurance, while our coaches are mostly not.
With The Helpnet Medical, we currently support two hospitals. There is still a lot of growth to be achieved here, but we are tackling it step by step. As a startup, we want to do a lot, but do it well. For this, we are also attracting investors. Growth capital to accelerate growth. Our target towards 2024 is to facilitate 10,000 clients and 6,000 consultations.

Joanna, as founder and CEO of The Helpnet, has a background in psychology where she particularly specialises in behavioural analysis and HR profiling. Here, she examines congruent behaviour versus incongruent behaviour. She herself is also involved as a consultant on her platform and knows better than anyone what impact the recent period has had on digital care.

"Of course, recent times have seen a change. We saw a huge increase in screen-based care, but then another decrease once the measures waned. But in the meantime, practitioners and clients have been introduced to the benefits of online care. And as for mental health care, which does not require physical examination, I expect everyone to continue to find their way online. The Helpnet."