Mental health concerns are on the rise in Hong Kong — but access to timely, affordable support remains limited. Long waiting lists and high service fees often stand in the way of those who need help the most.
To address this growing need, Dream Impact invited two of our social impact partners — Mind Matters Academy (MM) and HealingTalk (HT) — to share how they’re making mental health support more accessible, inclusive, and impactful.
Joyce of HealingTalk in a school panel discussion
In one sentence: How does your service help improve mental health in Hong Kong?
MM: We offer affordable mental health first aid training, hypnosis therapy, psychotherapy techniques, clinical counselling, and mind-body practices like qigong and tai chi — empowering the public through education and providing holistic support to those in need.
HT: We provide warm, human-centric emotional counselling with the shortest possible wait times, at prices people can actually afford.
Can you share a success story?
MM: We ran a pilot programme with one of the centres under the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation that combined mindfulness, qigong, and hypnosis. While their services mainly focus on employment support for people in rehab, they noticed a lack of attention to mental wellbeing might be consquential. Through this pilot, we aimed to explore whether mind-body interventions can support social reintegration.
The results was promising: participants reported higher vitality, greater life satisfaction, and a marked improvement in perceived quality of life — proving that integrated mind-body therapies can drive real change.
HT: One of our clients had suicidal thoughts when he first reached out. After a session with our counsellor, he told us he had rediscovered a sense of purpose — and even decided to go to Spain to pursue his dream. The transformation was far beyond what we expected.
Another client had tried several forms of counselling but felt most therapists were just “reading out of a textbook”. She couldn’t build trust — until she found HealingTalk. Within a short time, she experienced real, significant improvement. Even her husband noticed the change and reached out to us for himself!
Vincent of Mind Matters Academy at a workshop
What new initiatives are you excited about?
MM: We’re working with a partner to develop an AI-powered counselling bot. The idea is to offer basic, 24/7 psychological support using both voice and text — making help available anytime, to anyone.
HT: We’re launching a monthly counselling subscription plan to provide ongoing emotional support. Our vision is to build a household mental health platform where people from all walks of life can access the help they need, when they need it.
How would you like to collaborate within the Dream Impact community?
MM: Dream Impact is full of hidden talent — and we love uncovering it through casual conversations. Time and again, we’ve turned shared insights into collaborative projects that create real social value for our community and Hong Kong’s workplaces. We hope to keep recommending brilliant peers to one another so we can continue building impactful partnerships together.
We’ll soon be hosting our Mental Health First Aid course. We hope you’ll join us to learn the right skills to support yourself and those around you.
HT: We’re especially concerned about the rise in student suicides, and the increasing pressure on parents and teachers. While the Education Bureau offers funding, there’s a lack of real emotional support on the ground.
We hope to partner with Dream Impact’s community to bring counselling into more schools, reaching teachers, students, and parents alike. We also offer support to single mothers, knowing that many emotional challenges stem from family stress. Our goal is to support people at the root of the problem.
In one word, how would you describe your experience at Dream Impact?
MM: Connection hub. Dream Impact has connected me with so many social entrepreneurs who’ve shared guidance, support, and helped me grow Mind Matters Academy.
HT: Decent. The people here are helpful and genuine. What stands out is that this isn’t just driven by individuals — it’s a shared culture where everyone wants to create real, positive change for people and the planet.
Joyce of HealingTalk in an interview
What changes do you hope to see in Hong Kong’s mental health services?
MM: In today’s information-saturated world, it’s easy to find mental health advice online – just as easy as encountering misinformation. Some envision a future where therapists are obsolete because mental health issues have vanished. In reality, just as we will always need doctors, we will always need mental health professionals.
Our goal should be to ensure everyone has affordable access to accurate mental health information and effective intervention techniques, so they can support themselves and those around them.
HT: We hope that emotional support becomes something everyone can access—without having to worry about whether they can afford it.
Vincent of Mind Matters Academy giving a seminar
As the mental health landscape in Hong Kong continues to evolve, changemakers like Mind Matters Academy and HealingTalk are showing what’s possible when compassion meets innovation. Their work reminds us that mental wellbeing should never be a luxury — it’s a right that everyone deserves.
At Dream Impact, we’re proud to support partners who are not only filling the gaps in our system, but also reshaping how our city approaches mental health — with empathy, accessibility, and a deep belief in people’s potential to heal and thrive.
About Dream Impact
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Dream Impact is Hong Kong’s leading network of social enterprises and impact ventures. We support changemakers from different sectors through transformative experiences and community building initiatives that lead to more sustainable business models.
We envision a world where nurturing relationships with ourselves, each other, and the environment will create a harmonious, sustainable future. Through our network membership, coworking spaces, and event venues, we foster a close-knit, supportive community of social entrepreneurs and changemakers. This allows our partners to collaborate, connect, and upskill together.
Additionally, our flagship Transformative Retreat is designed to help purpose-driven professionals integrate sustainability into both their personal and professional lives, achieving greater alignment in their own journeys as well as within their organizations.
Interested in becoming our member? Sign up here and come visit with a free day pass.
