Owner offers a virtual helping hand

Joel Muise, owner of Tranquility in Halifax

Website: tranquility.app

Instagram: @tranquilityapp

Health services are currently preoccupied with COVID-19. But if your mental health is suffering, where can you go? Joel Muise, owner of Tranquility, pivoted his online therapy platform counselling app to help support those struggling with the mental health effects of the pandemic. He kept true to his core mission and found an even larger customer base; one that needed his services during these challenging times.

“As soon as it became apparent that COVID-19 was going to turn into a global pandemic, we quickly realized that because we had a virtual mental health platform we should be part of the solution.”  – Joel Muise, owner of Tranquility.

When the pandemic struck, we all had more questions than the world had answers. This gap has since increased in many ways, and with it, the amount of anxiety felt by all Canadians. Combine that with the reality that we’re largely forced to be alone, without our friends and family by our side, and you have an unmanageable amount of stress. That’s why Joel Muise, owner of Nova Scotia’s online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy service for stress and anxiety, Tranquility, decided to change his business model to help Canadians cope right now.

After leaving his career in finance because of emotional burnout, Muise realized that the public system was not doing enough to help people manage their stress and anxiety. So he started Tranquility, a website that offered services for overcoming anxiety with the help of a personal coach (via video, call or text).

When social distancing protocols were announced, he knew Tranquility could help because the platform provides virtual help for mental health. Muise says, “We quickly made some changes to our platform to address what people may be going through right now (e.g., health related anxiety, social anxiety, financial distress) and then started to reach out to organizations to see how we can support our healthcare and frontline workers, free of charge.” He then marketed his new offering so people could find help during this challenging time.

For extroverts, being alone is incredibly difficult. But even introverts, like Muise himself, are struggling right now. He thought it was going to be easier, but he’s had a hard time. “After about a month of social isolation, I started to really find my mental health starting to decline. Being someone that lives alone, I am currently going days without seeing anyone. So, as it turns out I really miss the opportunity to be with my colleagues and friends in-person.” The effects of this pandemic on mental health are real, but it doesn’t have to be faced alone. Support is readily available, and Muise’s Tranquility is here to help. The program, based on a vast body of evidence uses the gold-standard, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, to help its clients learn skills to better cope with their anxiety.

To support Joel Muise, visit the Tranquility website to start your free trial. You can also follow his business on Instagram!

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