Echo: AI for Therapists

Inspiration

Half of our team has experienced therapy firsthand, and we’ve witnessed how deeply therapists want to help others yet how easily they become swamped by administrative demands. Growing up, one of our team members spent time with a friend’s mom who worked as a therapist, and she shared how session notes, scheduling, and endless paperwork took a toll on her energy. The frustration of wanting to be fully present for each client—while still having to devote hours to documentation—struck a chord with us. We set out to build something transformative that grants therapists “superhuman” abilities to manage these tasks, so they can keep the focus where it belongs: on their clients.

What It Does

Echo is an AI-driven EHR platform that automates post-session note-taking, offers real-time insights, and helps therapists prepare for upcoming sessions. By leveraging secure speech-to-text and natural language processing, Echo transcribes and summarizes each session. Therapists can then finalize their notes in minutes—rather than the 16+ minutes per session they typically spend on paperwork.

How We Built It

We built the front end in React and Next.js for a smooth, responsive interface, with PostgreSQL (via Supabase) handling data storage and real-time updates. We used OpenAI APIs to generate session summaries and conversational insights. Everything is deployed on Vercel, allowing us to iterate quickly with ephemeral environments.

Challenges We Faced

We ran into hurdles integrating real-time AI transcription, especially while ensuring it met strict privacy and security guidelines. For over 75% of our team, this was our first hackathon, and half of us were brand-new to React and TypeScript. Despite the steep learning curve, we stayed motivated because we believed in Echo’s potential to ease therapists’ burden.

Accomplishments

Within a single weekend, we created a fully functional AI note-taking workflow. Our system provides nearly instant summaries that drastically reduce manual editing. By focusing on an uncluttered interface, we’ve ensured that Echo’s design supports, rather than distracts from, the therapist–client relationship.

What We Learned

We discovered the importance of balancing automation with personalization to preserve the nuance of therapy sessions. We also learned that even minor UI enhancements can significantly reduce therapists’ cognitive load. Most importantly, we saw how a passionate, collaborative approach—despite new technologies and first-hackathon jitters—leads to meaningful innovation :)

What’s Next

We plan to implement voice-only features for hands-free note-taking, add advanced insights like advanced research guidance, and integrate Echo seamlessly with existing EHR systems. Ultimately, we want therapists to feel truly supported, so they can do what they do best: provide genuine, life-changing care to their clients.

One-Minute Explainer Video
Two-Minute Demo Video

Built With

• antdesign
• nextjs
• node.js
• openaiapi
• react
• superbase
• typescript