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As the Largest Online Therapy Provider, Does BetterHelp Live Up to Its Hype?
We also worked with three subject matter expertsDr.
Amy Marschall, PsyD,Dr.
Heres how BetterHelp fared in our review.
Take a look at ouronline therapy methodology.
What Is BetterHelp?
You should also know that the company does not accept any insurance plans, which is a significant drawback.
Health insurancecan increase peoples access to mental health care by lowering the cost.
In the U.S., the average cost of therapy ranges from$60 to $200 per sessionor more.
However, BetterHelp does offer financial aid for students, veterans, and low-income therapy seekers.
In fact, Verywell Mind readers can get their own discount.
However, compared to many other companies we tested, these numbers are low.
BetterHelp’s intuitive dashboard allowed us to manage sessions and track our progress conveniently.
It is worth noting that the company provides a variety of choices for describing gender identity and sexual orientation.
We were also asked if we were religious and, if yes, which religion we identified with.
That being said, the only options for Which religion do you identify with?
are Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Prefer not to say, and Other.
(This holistic attention to different aspects of our health did not go unnoticed.)
This further increased our confidence in BetterHelps ability to match us with an appropriate provider.
These questions assessed whether we were eligible for financial aid.
There was no requirement to provide documentation to prove whether we were a part of these demographics.
Its important to note that this is the stage where you will be quoted your exact subscription price.
The amount of time it took us to get matched with our therapist varied between testers and locations.
The company states it will take about 48 hours to receive a match.
Ninety-four percent of users reported that they found a therapist who met all or most of their needs.
However, the company does not promise therapists will respond within a specific time frame.
Our experiences with this messaging service varied greatly.
As I continued messaging my therapists, I noticed a pattern, one of our testers noted.
Their responses were short and vagueoften directing me to wait until the next live session.
Look forward to speaking with you soon.
There are important elements of a therapy session that are impossible over text.
It does not specify what you should use the Urgent messages for.
If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.
For more mental health resources, see ourNational Helpline Database.
Live Sessions
A monthly subscription plan got us four live sessions with BetterHelp.
We could not buy additional sessions.
We could schedule our first live session directly on the portal.
BetterHelp does not charge for missed sessions, but you cant schedule an extra session if you miss one.
Our therapists initiated the video calls within the portal, but we still needed to accept the call.
Much like our experiences with messaging, the quality of our video calls varied widely.
The same variation was true for the quality of our therapy sessions themselves.
That being said, our sessions were not without their issues.
This combined experience was disappointing.
In addition, during one of our video calls, our therapist often looked off-screen.
We assumed they were taking notes, but it added an impersonal element to the session.
It mostly felt like a phone call to someone.
After a few audio calls, we completely understood why our therapists preferred video sessions.
Much like our audio sessions, we were not impressed with our live chat therapy appointments.
During that conversation, we felt like our therapist did the best they possibly could under the circumstances.
A unique feature for BetterHelp, too, is that we could choose to see Live Typing.
This means that we were able to see what our therapist was typing as they typed itand vice versa.
The messages appeared in a different color once they were complete and sent.
Doing so ended the session early and the therapist was unable to restart it.
We could respond to daily prompts or just quickly jot down our feelings.
Webinars
BetterHelp offers webinars, which it calls groupinars, through its patient portal.
The third option on the dropdown was Change therapist.
Canceling Our BetterHelp Subscription
We could cancel our subscription to BetterHelp at any time.
We simply clicked our username in the top right corner and went to “Account tweaks.”
Once we clicked, we were given the choice between changing our subscription plan or canceling it altogether.
BetterHelp does not offer a refund for any unused sessions at the end of the billing period.
The company prioritizes accessibility with its convenient, user-friendly website and app as well as its available financial aid.
Still, the inconsistent quality is worth considering before using the company for online therapy.
Find out which option is the best for you.
