Oluwaseun-Raphael Afolayan built Mytherapist.ng out of a very personal frustration. In 2021, he was struggling with his own mental health and found it nearly impossible to access therapy. Together with co-founder Dedoyin Ajayi, he turned what started as a simple spreadsheet of vetted therapists into a full platform where Nigerians can sign up, browse by speciality, and book sessions with professionals who actually understand the social and cultural realities of life in this part of the world.
Now the platform is entering a new chapter. Mytherapist.ng 2.0 is a relaunch that brings two significant changes: a financing partnership with healthcare company MyItura that allows users to pay for sessions in instalments rather than all at once, and the introduction of in-person therapy sessions held at Café One, a co-working network with more than 30 locations across Nigeria.
The financing option speaks directly to a gap that the numbers make hard to ignore. The World Health Organisation puts out-of-pocket spending at 74.7% of total health expenditure in Nigeria as of 2020. Around 20% of Nigerians live with a mental health condition, yet fewer than 10% receive even minimally adequate care. Recurring therapy costs can add up fast, and that financial wall stops a lot of people before they even start.
Afolayan told TechCabal that two years of user feedback pushed the team toward these changes. "What we've always believed in is that nobody should be denied help just because they cannot afford to pay for it at that moment," he said. The platform already offers an AI-powered matching tool alongside manual search options covering conditions from depression and anxiety to grief, panic attacks, and burnout.
With flexible payment now built in and a physical presence spreading across Nigerian cities, the question becomes how many more people Mytherapist.ng can actually reach, and whether the rest of the sector will follow.
Originally published by TechCabal.