Client: Mirrorwell, a self-reflection and relationship-insight app.
Most companion apps are built to keep people chatting. Mirrorwell wanted the opposite: an AI that helps people notice the patterns behind their relationships – why they keep choosing the same partner, the same argument, the same exit. Working with the founders and their advisory psychoanalysts, Black River designed a conversational companion grounded in psychodynamic ideas: it listens more than it advises, asks open questions, gently points out recurring themes, and over weeks builds a picture of attachment style, defences and the stories people tell about themselves.
Under the hood, a large-language-model orchestration layer combines carefully engineered conversation frameworks with long-term memory: sessions are summarised into a private, structured “case formulation” that the companion can draw on later, so insights accumulate instead of resetting every chat. Users can talk by voice, keep a guided journal or record dreams for later reflection, and receive a monthly letter summarising what has changed. Because the subject matter is sensitive, safety and privacy were treated as core features: real-time risk detection with hand-off to crisis resources, clear boundaries that the app is not therapy, end-to-end encryption of journals, and data the user can export or delete at any time. Mirrorwell launched on iOS and Android in 2025, and its users average far longer, more reflective sessions than typical chat companions.
Services: AI / LLM Product Development · Conversational Memory & Personalisation · iOS & Android Apps · Safety & Privacy Engineering · Voice Interfaces