When we first launched our global services in partnership with ICAS World, the core problems we set out to address were clear: Half of the world’s population will experience a mental health disorder in their lifetime, and the vast majority of those impacted won’t receive treatment. Recognizing this, benefits leaders have invested in mental health and well-being support globally. But they’re facing hurdles such as multi-country administrative burdens, inadequate access to care for their people, and culturally insensitive services and programs that make it difficult to connect global teams with effective care.
From the beginning, all of us at Lyra and ICAS shared a vision for addressing these challenges and setting a new standard in global mental health care. We’re excited to share that we’re taking the next step in our mission by uniting our organizations under one brand: Lyra. This effort is the culmination of a comprehensive two-year process of learning and thoughtful integration. Lyra now has the largest fully integrated, evidence-based mental health network with 22,000+ providers in 200+ countries and territories serving over 15 million people around the world.
“Prior to Lyra, Flywire’s approach was to cultivate relationships with mental health providers across the globe one by one. It was very inefficient. Lyra’s platform and provider network was really key for us to save time and still offer quality care across the globe.”
Gary Cunningham
Chief People Officer
Flywire
In collaboration with our employer partners, Lyra and ICAS have worked together to understand the most pressing needs of global organizations and have invested significantly to deliver the first global workforce mental health solution to tackle these problems head-on. Today, Lyra supports international organizations with:
Effective, culturally responsive care wherever you work
Understanding the cultural nuance and health care environments of different countries is core to supporting workforce mental health. We continue to invest significantly in the development of new and extensive provider networks in key regions around the world, specifically Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, and North America. Rather than relying on leased networks where you don’t have control over access or quality, Lyra directly manages access and quality for our 22,000 providers delivering care in 60+ languages across 200+ countries and territories. Our approach ensures that all providers, whether employed directly or through preferred partners, meet Lyra’s stringent credentialing requirements. This enables us to align local needs with a global clinical standard of care to deliver culturally responsive, high-quality care for your employees and their families.
Fast access to the care your people need when they need it
In most countries worldwide, people in crisis face provider shortages and long wait times. As an example, within the UK’s national health system, 23% of adults with mental health conditions say they typically wait more than 12 weeks to start treatment. Lyra has not only continued to enhance our network, but also integrated many providers onto our digital care platform to offer instant access to same-day appointments. As of January 2024, Lyra will offer members the ability to quickly find a provider who matches their personal needs online, along with the ability to book an appointment in 1.3 days on average, in more than 60 countries. We’ve also completed a full translation of our platform in 21 languages, with many more translations planned.
Support for common workplace issues such as burnout and stress
While stigma and norms around mental health concerns vary across the world, the issues of burnout and stress are very much universal—and they’re often the result of workplace factors. At the beginning of 2023, we expanded Lyra Care to 11 new countries. Lyra Care Coaching, which includes an immersive blend of live sessions, expert-guided videos, and curated exercises, is proven effective in addressing work-induced burnout and stress. We’ve also developed an extensive library of global workshops as well as Lyra Gatherings, our live structured group sessions, which are now available in local languages and across time zones.
Worldwide care for children and teens
Children’s mental health remains a global crisis, with 1 in 7 children dealing with mental health disorders that go largely untreated. Traditionally, EAPs have focused on supporting people over 16. In January 2023, we extended our whole-family care program outside the U.S. We also undertook a dedicated initiative across our clinical operations to deliver new protocols and deploy additional provider training in order to support children as young as 12.
Support during distressing world events including natural disasters and geopolitical conflicts
As we all continue to face unpredictable and traumatic events across the world, we understand that the pain of navigating these events is rooted in the emotional distress felt by your people. Lyra has a dedicated rapid crisis response program to provide localized resources for our customers and members. This includes actionable guides, live and on-demand group sessions, email templates for benefits teams, and tailored support where needed. We also have a Critical Incident Support program, which includes Lyra’s local teams of mental health professionals available to help companies respond to local and regional events with on-the-ground and virtual support.
We’re fortunate to come together with our ICAS team members, who bring more than 35 years of experience building an agile network of local experts and clinical care professionals who deeply understand the evolving needs of organizations and their people.
We continue to advance our mission of helping more people around the world get fast access to quality mental health care, and all of us are committed to setting new standards for guidance, education, and resources in support of organizational well-being.
Clockwise from top left: Lyra providers based in the United Kingdom, Singapore, India, and Malaysia
Lyra delivers a new standard of global workforce mental health care for your teams.
As Head of International, Andrew spearheads Lyra’s international operations, ensuring the consistent delivery of care across 200+ countries and territories. He started his career as a clinical psychologist and has spent the last three decades managing large-scale corporate mental health services in complex, culturally diverse geographies as CEO of ICAS. He holds an Honours degree from Wits University and a master’s in clinical psychology from the University of Natal.
Sean McBride
Chief Revenue Officer
Sean helped start Lyra Health in 2015 and became chief revenue officer in 2022. He leads Lyra’s partnerships with employers, health plans, and other strategic partners. This includes Lyra’s sales, customer success, marketing, occupational mental health, and go-to-market operation teams. Prior to Lyra, Sean worked at Castlight Health, The White House's National Economic Council, The Brookings Institution's Health Care Reform Center, and Khulisa Management Services. Sean earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School, and a Master in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
Gary CunninghamChief People OfficerFlywire
