Our Story

Solacare means exactly what it sounds like: a place where we hope everyone can feel a little brighter inside. The English name can be read as Solar (the sun) + care (we hope no one mistakes us for a solar panel repair company), or as Solace (comfort) + care.

The name came naturally, because we all know that everyone needs a little warmth and companionship at some point in their lives. Especially in Hong Kong, where the pressures of daily life are immense but mental health support remains far too limited. Solacare was founded precisely to walk alongside people and provide a reliable, accessible way for everyone to find the counselling professional who is right for them.

What inspired the platform

I am a registered social worker who spent years providing front-line services through an online counselling platform before moving to Canada to continue my counselling work. Unlike Hong Kong, counselling in Canada (more commonly called psychotherapy) is predominantly delivered by independent private practitioners. Government and NGO services are actually quite limited there and cover far less than what Hong Kong offers. Yet precisely because of this, people tend to have far more choice and find it much easier to find a counsellor who truly fits them.

Hong Kong mental health professionals are not short of clinical training or experience, and many are keen to enter private practice. What Hong Kong lacks is an open platform where interested practitioners can get started, and no one ever teaches you how to run a private counselling service at university. Even once you start, there is no reliable platform providing the clinical and administrative tools a private practice actually needs.

To promote private counselling in Hong Kong and encourage more dedicated practitioners to get involved, I drew on my experience from both Hong Kong and Canada to build Solacare: a single platform to start your private practice journey. More importantly, I hope that by growing this platform, Hong Kongers will have more choices and be able to meet the right counselling professional before things get worse.

Clinical expertise meets technology

Unlike most tech tools, Solacare was not built by a tech company. In addition to being a social worker, I hold a Master's degree in Computer Science and contributed to the system design of Canada's national 988 Suicide Crisis Helpline. Solacare brings together my clinical experience and technical knowledge to imagine the best possible tools from the perspective of both clients and counsellors, while ensuring the design meets the standards required for medical-grade privacy protection.

Because I deeply understand the importance of human connection, unlike most tech products, I genuinely love personally responding to your feedback and discoveries, because this system was always built with you in mind.

Our Vision

As a counsellor, I know that trust is the foundation of a therapeutic relationship, and that the relationship itself often matters more than any particular approach or clinical technique. Trust is therefore at the core of this platform. By building genuine walking-alongside relationships with both clients and counsellors, we hope to grow into one of Hong Kong's most meaningful mental health platforms.

Looking ahead, Solacare will keep evolving, continuing to bring mental health and technology together in thoughtful ways, including exploring how AI can be integrated into the platform safely and effectively.

Founder of Solacare

Nicholas Wong