An Introduction to Nova

Unmind's AI Coach (Nova) is a 24/7 digital wellbeing assistant designed to provide intelligent support to help clients achieve their personal and professional goals.

It provides real-time, personalized support by connecting clients with science-backed tools and tailored advice. Nova acts as a bridge, guiding clients toward the right human support - therapy or coaching - at the right time.

Nova is an easy-to-use, helpful tool to supplement your therapy/coaching sessions and support the user between sessions:

About Nova

Available in over 20 languages, Nova connects clients with appropriate wellbeing tools and tailored advice. It empowers users through self-discovery, personal growth and proactive assistance.

Nova also guides clients toward appropriate mental health support, resources and therapy & coaching - helping clients find the right support at the right time.

Nova provides general wellbeing support only. It cannot diagnose, assess, or treat clinical conditions.

How to Access Nova

Both you and your clients can find Nova on the Unmind homepage (web and mobile).

For Practitioners:

  1. Visit the Login Page.
  2. Enter your registered email.
  3. When prompted for "Company," enter ‘Practitioner’.

For Clients:

  • Clients can tap "Chat to Nova" on their home dashboard.
  • Note: Access depends on their employer's Unmind package. If unsure, ask your client directly or Contact Support.

Safety & Guardrails

Nova is built on "benevolent friction". It is designed to build a user's internal capability, not create dependency on AI.

  • Crisis Management: If Nova detects an emergency, it immediately provides local emergency service numbers based on the user's profile location.
  • Routing: For non-emergencies, Nova signposts to internal resources or encourages a GP visit.
  • Privacy and Quality Assurance: Conversations are anonymised and reviewed by a quality team only to improve safety and response accuracy. User identity remains protected.

Boundaries to Clarify with Clients

When recommending Nova, it is vital to reinforce its limitations:

  • No Clinical Risk Management: It cannot handle acute safety risks.
  • No Diagnosis: It does not provide medical or psychological assessments.
  • No Relationship: It cannot replicate the empathy, accountability, and nuanced challenge provided by a human professional.

Nova’s Relationship to Human Care

Nova is not a replacement or substitution for human care, but an amplification. It is specifically programmed not to provide therapeutic intervention.

Nova is designed to signpost to human care where appropriate, helping connect more people to the right support.

Nova cannot:

  • Build the trusting, accountable therapeutic/ coaching relationship that drives real change
  • Provide personalised guidance based on deep understanding of your client's context, patterns, and growth over time
  • Challenge clients in the nuanced, adaptive way that human practitioners do
  • Hold space for clients to explore their goals and values with the empathy and insight that comes from human connection
  • Provide the accountability and support that keeps clients moving forward on their journey

Integrating Nova into Your Practice

Nova is designed to complement therapy and coaching, not replace it. The therapeutic/coaching relationship - including the essential work of transference, resistance, and working through discomfort with a human professional - cannot and should not be replicated by AI.

Position Nova as a tool for between-session support. While you handle the transformative deeper work, Nova can offer a reflective space, short exercises, guidance or answer logistics questions about Unmind. It can help clients maintain momentum and clarify goals, making your live sessions more focused and productive.

Examples:

  1. Nova answers questions about therapy on Unmind: I am thinking about signing up to a therapist via Unmind - what do I need to know?
  2. Nova helps clients find useful tools on Unmind to use between sessions: My career coach recommended I try some mindfulness exercises to help focus my attention during big presentations - can you recommend any?
  3. Nova provides safety and contact information if someone indicates they’re in distress: I’m really struggling right now and I don’t know what to do.

For further support, read our Practitioner Guide to recommending Nova.