A Sheboygan therapist is launching a mental wellness platform to break down communication barriers that prevent people from accessing the help they need.
“PingMe is not asking people to be less overwhelmed before they use it. It is being built for the moments when life already feels heavy,” says founder Laura Roberts, who is a licensed clinical social worker.
Roberts says people are more digitally connected than ever, but many still feel isolated, misunderstood and overwhelmed.
“For so many years I have been working with people… I’ve thought so many times ‘I just wish they could all talk together.’ My clients are intelligent and resourceful and they have strategies.”
She acknowledges there are many existing wellness apps but says PingMe is designed to be a more emotionally accessible, low-pressure way for people to communicate needs, stay connected and navigate anxiety, ADHD, loneliness and emotional overload. Rather than placing the burden on users to explain everything perfectly, PingMe is designed to reduce friction and make connection feel easier, more natural and more possible.
Roberts says her experience as a therapist also differentiates PingMe because it is built on professional observation and training instead of wellness trends and pursuit of digital cachet. It also fills a space for people to connect. Roberts says there are some good apps for mental health, but they mostly put people in silos, and they don’t talk to anyone else.
PingMe users will open the app, choose a pod — trauma, stress, ADHD, anxiety, etc. — read conversations and join the conversation if they want. She sees it as a way to help address social isolation, which she calls the largest mental health challenge in the country.
“The point is, you can find your tribe,” Roberts says. “It’s 11 o’clock at night, you’ve lost your job, you’re stressed, who do you talk to? You can go on PingMe and find someone to talk to.”
Mental Health America has invited Roberts to speak and has shared news about PingMe’s upcoming launch. She also is working with a large behavioral health organization in Wisconsin and has been invited to present at the 2026 Suicide Awareness Convoy in Manitowoc. There already is a large group of beta testers for the app helping to prepare for a May launch.
Roberts says it all points to a need for PingMe. She understands there is some resistance among people who avoid social media, but says it is meeting people — especially young people — where they are at, online and on their phones.
“They’re out there searching already. There are millions of hashtag searches all over the internet. It’s fragmented and it’s unsafe. PingMe brings it home, to one central location where it’s not fragmented and it’s safe,” Roberts says.
The idea for the app came when Roberts had a prayerful moment after a session and was thinking about how she could reach more people. She says the idea of an app popped into her head and while it didn’t seem like a good fit for her, she found herself on the phone the same day with a California-based app developer.
While it made her uncomfortable at first, Roberts says PingMe’s potential is obvious and motivating.
“I get really excited because I believe in this so deeply,” she says.
Learn more at: https://pingme.world/
