The Rula Patient App gives eligible adult therapy patients access to tools designed to support them between sessions. This article walks through the patient experience and explains what therapists should know about how these tools connect to care.
Currently, the Rula Patient App and accompanying Rula provider portal features for providers is available to a small group of patients as we continue to test the experience and gather feedback. We’ll let you and your patients know when it becomes available more broadly.
About the Rula Patient App
The Rula Patient App gives clients another way to access Rula and stay connected to their care between sessions. It is available on iOS and Android and free to download.
In the app, clients can revisit session summaries you've shared, complete exercises you recommend, share topics for upcoming sessions, and navigate difficult moments using Thread. Some of these features connect to your provider portal, helping the work you do together carry over between sessions.
How the Rula Patient App connects with your provider portal
The app isn't separate from the work you do in your portal — it's where clients experience it. What you do on your side shows up on theirs:
- When you share a session summary → your client can revisit it in the app
- When you recommend a resource → it appears in their library to practice
- When a client shares session topics → You review them in your portal before you meet
- Thread is the exception- it’s app-only, with no portal counterpart.
Getting around the app
A navigation bar at the bottom of the screen lets clients move between the main areas of the app: the Home screen, Practice resources, Sessions to see upcoming and past appointments plus manage scheduling, and Thread, an AI-powered conversational tool.
From the top of the Home screen clients can reach their Messages with you, their provider, as well as helpful Account information by clicking the person icon in the top right corner. Here they’ll find their profile, care team, billing and insurance details, notification settings, a link to the help center, and more.
In-app features
Session summary
After a session, you can choose to share a session summary with your client. You can write the summary yourself or use a draft generated by Rula Recap (link out to article), which you review and edit before sharing.
Once shared, the summary appears in the Sessions tab of the Rula Patient App and may include key takeaways and resources connected to that session. Creating, reviewing, and sharing session summaries all happen in your provider portal.
Tips for talking about summaries with your clients
You might say: “I use Rula Recap to help capture the important parts of our sessions, so you have something to reference once you’re back in the flow of daily life. After our session, it creates a draft summary with key takeaways and things you may want to carry forward. I review and edit it before sharing it with you, and you’ll get an email when it’s ready.”
Learn more about session summaries in the provider portal by reading this Help Center Article: Session summaries: a guide for therapists
Share this helpful resource about session summaries with your clients: Mobile App: Session summaries
Resource library
The resource library gives clients a place to continue care-related work between sessions by completing resources, practices and articles shared by their therapist. As a provider, you’ll access the resource library through your provider portal to select exercises and readings for your clients by attaching them to session summaries.
Tips for talking about the resource library with your clients
You might say: “The resource library is a collection of guided exercises and articles you can explore between our sessions. It's there so you can keep practicing skills we talk about, or explore new ones on your own time, whenever it's helpful for you.”
Learn more about the resource library in the provider portal by reading this Help Center Article: Resource library: a guide for therapists
Share this helpful resource about the resource library with your clients: Mobile App: Resource Library
Session topics
Session topics help clients prepare for an upcoming session. In the app, clients can choose from suggested topics to discuss, or write their own. Topics are shared with you automatically, though clients can turn off sharing if they prefer. It's a prep tool, not a messaging tool. On your side, this shows up as session prep in the provider portal, where you can review the topics a client is sharing before their session.
Tips for talking about session topics with your client
You might say: “Before our next session, you'll be prompted to share Session Topics on your patient app Sessions screen. You can add your own or use suggestions based on things like past summaries or exercises, and rank what matters most. I'll see your list by default, which helps me focus our time together, but I can't reply to it there, and you can turn off sharing anytime.”
Learn more about session prep in the provider portal by reading this Help Center Article:Ssession prep: a guide for therapists
Share this helpful resource about session topics with your clients: Mobile App: Session prep
Thread
Thread gives clients a space between sessions to reflect, navigate difficult moments as they arise, practice coping skills, and find relevant resources. When appropriate, it can draw on session summaries and exercises you've shared to make the experience more relevant to their care.
Thread is designed to complement the work happening in therapy, not replace it. It operates within clear boundaries: it does not provide therapy, diagnose, make treatment decisions, or act as a messaging channel with you. Thread is AI, it is not a clinician. It does not replace your therapist.
Thread conversations are private from you and are not part of the client's medical record. The exception is safety: every message is evaluated for potential safety concerns before Thread responds, and if a client may be at immediate risk, Thread directs them to appropriate crisis resources. If a conversation is flagged, Rula will notify you.
Tips for talking about Thread with your clients:
You might say: “Thread is an AI-powered conversational tool in the Rula app that you can use between our sessions. You can use it to reflect on things that come up during the week, practice coping skills, and explore exercises and resources. If I’ve recommended something for you, Thread can also help you revisit it.”
Learn more about thread in the mobile app by reading this Help Center Article: Thread: a guide for therapists
Share this helpful resource about Thread with your clients: Mobile App: Thread (In-the-moment support)
At this time, access to Thread varies baed on location, insurance, age and other factors.
Related articles
Therapist Help Center Articles about provider portal features:
- Session summaries: a guide for therapists
- Resource library: a guide for therapists
- Session prep: a guide for therapists
- Thread: a guide for therapists
- Rula patient app videos
Patient Help Center Articles available to share with your clients:
- Rula patient mobile app overview
- Mobile App: Session summaries
- Mobile App: Resource Library
- Mobile App: Session prep
- Mobile App: Thread (In-the-moment support)
- Mobile App: Account Settings and Care Management
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