In 2013, registered psychologist Andrew Miki (MA ’04, PhD ’09) recognized the lack of adequate mental health support for employees because of barriers like stigma, cost and accessibility. This led to the development of Starling Minds, a digital mental health platform that provides affordable and accessible mental health support and psychoeducation to individuals. Today, over 4 million people across North America have access to Starling Minds to support their mental health.
“I love trying to figure out different ways to create psych programs or training programs or whatever it may be at scale,” says Andrew. “There's not a lot in mental health. There's not enough professionals to treat all the people who are in need, and that’s become more and more of an issue. So, I love trying to figure out different ways to create.”
Today, Andrew is empowering individuals with the skills to build mental resilience and overcome mental health barriers. Through his mental fitness training program, he aims to equip leaders with the tools they need to thrive in their roles and create more productive and healthier environments.
“A grand slam to me is like that home run, where you know the person gets all the skills they need,” says Andrew. “You see they're in this place where, when they go through adversity, they automatically use the skills that they've learned. They're able to kind of navigate that adversity so much better than they did before.”
His approach, which draws on neuropsychology and cognitive behaviour therapy, leverages proven exercises to build new, healthier patterns to improve emotional intelligence and quality of life.
Andrew credits his education and the opportunities he had as a student to his success as a clinical psychologist today. He specifically acknowledges Dr. Leslie Greenberg, Distinguished Research Professor and professor emeritus in the Department of Psychology at York.
“When I was 18, it was my dream to become a clinical psychologist,” says Andrew. “I always feel a lot of gratitude towards Dr. Greenberg and York for taking me in because that was the dream, I always wanted to go clinical and York was absolutely fantastic.”
During his time at York, Andrew had the opportunity to work with several distinguished professors in the Psychology department including Dr. Walter Heinrichs where he worked with schizophrenia, one of the most severe types of mental illness. Andrew completed his training at Baycrest Hospital and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in neuropsychology and cognitive behavioural therapy.
“I had so many great opportunities at York,” says Andrew. “Dr. Henny Westra [Associate Professor of Psychology] invited me to work on her research project on treating generalized anxiety with cognitive behavior therapy and that was an amazing experience because it really gave me a foundation for treating one of the most common types of anxiety that people experience.”
After graduating from York, Andrew applied the knowledge he gained as a student and established a private practice where he continues to provide cognitive behavioural therapy to patients today.
“I really love to do clinical work. I love to get people better and leave my practice feeling generally more confident,” says Andrew. “I think I’m fortunate in the sense that I can help people get better and get back to work.”
More recently, Andrew completed a TEDx talk that was selected for release on the TED.com stage. You can view it at: go.ted.com/andrewmiki