Need to Vent? Forget the Couch, Startup Moves Therapy Online With digital diaries and video chats, PrettyPaddedRoom.com offers online counseling for woman and a "nice play to go crazy."
By Gwen Moran •
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What It Is
Pretty Padded Room connects women with licensed female therapists for counseling sessions via digital diary or video chat. Counselors evaluate prospective clients at the outset and help those with significant mental-health or substance-abuse issues find more suitable treatment options.
How It Started
When her first venture--MeTime, a social club for stay-at-home moms--folded in 2009 after less than a year, founder Bea Arthur (not that one) had a tough time finding a therapist she liked to help her sort through her feelings. That sparked the idea to bring therapy online. Using her savings and a small pool of funds from friends and family, she launched Pretty Padded Room--with its provocative tagline "a nice place to go crazy"--in February 2011.
