What I Learned at Clearhead: Reflections From the 2026 Internship Programme

Clearhead supports students to gain practical experience inside a fast‑growing mental‑health tech company. We sat down with Shuari, who has just completed our 2026 Summer Programme, to reflect on her experience. Below, she shares her insights. 

I initially signed up for the Therapy Success internship as I had heard many positive things about Clearhead and I had even recommended the platform to mental health professionals before joining, so receiving an interview invitation, was both surprising and exciting. 

After the interview, I walked away feeling confident about the culture, purpose, and people behind Clearhead. That impression only deepened as my internship progressed. 

From November 2025 to March 2026, I had the privilege of contributing to work that improves access to mental health support across Aotearoa and Australia. 

In my first week, I worked at Clearhead’s office in Britomart, where I was onboarded by the Therapy Success team and began organising the service standardisation project. This work ensured that all 900+ therapists on the platform had their service offerings mapped against our clinical guidelines following a thorough audit. 

In my second week , I met the wider Clearhead team in person. Everyone was genuinely warm and welcoming, and their humour and passion for improving access to mental health care made it easy to settle in. I still remember a colleague saying that Clearhead is an amazing place to work, and it made me so proud to also be working for Clearhead. 

Throughout my internship, I contributed to meaningful work across multiple teams, including updating the Therapist FAQs, and speaking with providers to understand their needs and helping them set up their profiles. I also worked closely with the Product and Operations teams on communications about public payments, ensuring individuals without an EAP could still self‑fund and access support through Clearhead. Every project taught me something new about what it means to work in a mental health tech company. 

One of the most rewarding parts of this experience was the mentorship I received. I felt supported, guided, and encouraged to grow from day one by Kirushi, my manager, who was very patient with me, and by Angela, who as CEO guided Clearhead's mission. I also enjoyed being able to pass that support forward by helping another intern when she felt lost. It reminded me how important it is to uplift others as we learn ourselves. 

This internship has been a defining chapter, and I’m excited to carry everything I’ve learned into the next stage of my journey.