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Cultural Vistas Wins GoAbroad.com Innovation Award for Talkspace Online Therapy Offerings

2018 GoAbroad.com Innovation Award Winners + Finalists

PHILADELPHIA – Cultural Vistas was recently named the recipient of the 2018 GoAbroad.com Innovation Award for Most Innovative Use of Technology for its new partnership with Talkspace to provide free, on-demand online therapy and counseling to its exchange participants. Cultural Vistas is the first exchange organization to implement an online therapy offering of this kind.

Cultural Vistas’ SunJeong Lee accepts the Innovation in Technology award during the May 31 reception. ?: GoAbroad

The 2018 winners were announced on Thursday evening, May 31 during the annual NAFSA: Association of International Educators conference in Philadelphia.

This initiative, which began in September 2017, is one of many ways in which Cultural Vistas strives to ensure the health and well-being of its participants as they experience a new culture and life overseas.

Talkspace is now available as part of the standard health insurance plan offered for Cultural Vistas participants. The service offers access to over 1,500 licensed therapists who can help with stress, anxiety, depression, and other emotional needs.

Talkspace users can engage in counseling with an individual licensed therapist through unlimited text, audio, and video messages in private, secure chat rooms.

The GoAbroad Innovation Awards were launched in 2011 to honor institutions, organizations, and individuals in international education who are creating initiatives that advance the field and go beyond the conventional.

Winners were chosen by a selective group of international education professionals known as the GoAbroad Innovations Academy.

This marks the sixth time Cultural Vistas and its programs have been recognized among the finalists in GoAbroad’s annual Innovation Awards and the second time it has taken home one of the top prizes.

In 2014, Cultural Vistas alumnus Gorazd Lazorik earned the organization’s Innovative Student Video award for his video about his U.S. internship experience.

On the Blog: Check out our recent post on Five Self Care Tips for Your Time Abroad