SloMo
Turning digital therapy research into a real-world tool for paranoia
SloMo is an evidence-based digital therapeutic for people experiencing distressing thoughts and paranoia.
Developed by a multidisciplinary team led by King’s College London, SloMo was created to support people living with psychosis by helping them notice fast, overwhelming thoughts and practise ways to slow them down.
About SloMo
The therapy combines face-to-face sessions with a digital app that can be used outside the therapy room, helping people continue building skills in everyday life.
SloMo is a strong example of complex, research-led digital health work: clinically sensitive, evidence-based and designed around real people.
Supporting a multidisciplinary research team
SloMo was not simply a technology project. It brought together academic research, clinical psychology, lived experience, inclusive design and digital development.
Bitjam worked as part of the wider SloMo team, supporting the development of the secure backend system that powers the app.
Clinically sensitive development
Working alongside clinical psychologists and researchers to support a digital therapeutic for people experiencing psychosis and paranoia.
Shaped around real experience
Supporting a product shaped with people who understand the reality of distressing thoughts, psychosis and paranoia.
Approachable and usable
Helping ensure the tool could feel accessible for people with different levels of digital confidence.
Protecting sensitive data
Supporting the secure backend infrastructure needed for sensitive clinical information.
Turning complex therapeutic concepts into a safe, usable digital product.
Bitjam’s role involved working closely with clinical psychologists, researchers, inclusive designers, people with lived experience and technology partners.
Bitjam’s understanding of the project was strengthened by the background of our Managing Director, Carl Plant, who previously worked as a mental health nurse, including experience within crisis team settings.
This gave Bitjam an additional understanding of the sensitivity, complexity and real-world pressures involved in developing technology for mental health services.
Our approach
At Bitjam, we work collaboratively with clients, researchers, clinicians, users and wider project teams. We do not build digital tools in isolation.
For SloMo, this meant supporting a careful development process where clinical safety, usability, accessibility, data integrity and regulation all mattered.
The app needed to be secure and reliable, but it also needed to feel approachable and usable for people who may be experiencing distressing thoughts, paranoia or low confidence with technology.
Software partner
- Bitjam lead the development process, producing both Mobile and Web applications for SloMo, as well as supporting NHS implementation.
- Helping protect sensitive clinical information through strong data integrity and security
- Working within the requirements of a regulated digital health product
- Supporting inclusive design so the tool could work for people with different levels of digital confidence
- Collaborating with a multidisciplinary team across research, clinical practice, design and technology
More than “build the thing”.
This is where Bitjam’s approach is particularly valuable. We are used to working with academic and clinical teams where the brief is not just to build software, but to help shape how research, user feedback, clinical requirements and technical delivery come together in a product that can work in the real world.
Designed around how people think and feel
The SloMo concept uses a simple but powerful visual metaphor.
Fast, unhelpful thoughts are represented as quick-spinning grey bubbles. Slower, safer thoughts are shown as colourful, steadier bubbles.
This visual approach helps people recognise when their thinking is speeding up and gives them a practical way to slow things down.
Notice fast thoughts
The app helps people recognise when thoughts are becoming fast, overwhelming or unhelpful.
Slow things down
People can practise techniques that help create more space and steadier thinking.
Use skills in daily life
The app supports people outside therapy, helping them return to skills when they need them.
Therapy that travels
Digital therapy can take a complex clinical idea and make it more visual, interactive and easier to return to when support is needed.
Building skills inside and outside the therapy room.
Patients practise this approach with their therapist during sessions, then continue using the app outside therapy to support the same skills in daily life.
Evidence, regulation and real-world use
SloMo has been tested through clinical research and has shown beneficial effects on paranoia-related outcomes, including observer-rated paranoia and self-reported persecution.
It has also been recognised as the first evidence-based, UKCA-marked digital therapeutic for treating paranoia.
Tested through research
Developed with careful attention to clinical outcomes, usability and real-world use.
Regulated digital therapeutic
Recognised as an evidence-based, UKCA-marked digital therapeutic for treating paranoia.
Potential for NHS use
Recommended by NICE as an option in the NHS while further evidence is generated.
Further evaluation
SloMo has received Wellcome funding to support further optimisation, evaluation and implementation across NHS Trusts.
Safe, evaluated and suitable for clinical pathways.
In 2024, NICE recommended SloMo as one of a small number of digital technologies that can be used as an option in the NHS for adults and young people with psychosis while further evidence is generated.
This recognition reflects the importance of developing digital health tools that are not only innovative, but safe, evaluated and suitable for real-world clinical pathways.
Why this matters
Access to psychological support for psychosis can be limited, and digital tools have the potential to make evidence-based support more accessible and engaging.
For people experiencing paranoia, having a tool that can be used both with a therapist and in everyday life can make support feel more practical and connected to real situations.
Extending therapy without losing the human element.
SloMo shows how digital technology can extend the reach of therapy without losing the human, clinical and relational elements that matter.
Turning important ideas into safe, meaningful digital tools
SloMo reflects the kind of work Bitjam does best.
It required technical expertise, but also careful collaboration, clinical understanding, inclusive thinking and the ability to work within a complex research and regulatory environment.
By working as part of a multidisciplinary team, Bitjam helped support the development of a digital therapeutic designed to make a real difference for people living with psychosis and paranoia.
It is a strong example of our approach: working with research and clinical teams to turn important ideas into safe, accessible and meaningful digital tools.
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Bitjam helps research teams, clinical teams and healthcare partners turn complex therapeutic ideas into secure, accessible and real-world digital health tools.