Is insurance going to cover BetterHelp? BetterHelp is a subscription-based online business that provides virtual mental health therapy sessions. BetterHelp does not accept insurance, and most private medical insurance companies do not cover its fees. If a person has a low income, however, they may be eligible for reduced charges.
Is BetterHelp cheaper than insurance?
For people who believe they cannot afford counseling, BetterHelp is an option to consider. Prices are invoiced at low out-of-pocket costs, making it more reasonable for those who do not have insurance or who do have insurance but have a high deductible.
Can you get reimbursed for BetterHelp?
BetterHelp offers reimbursements to dissatisfied clients, according to their regulations. Depending on the severity of the situation, they issue partial or full refunds. They normally provide a case-by-case solution, in which they assess the issues and your concerns on an individual basis. You will be refunded if the circumstance necessitates it. If not, they will suggest a few alternatives to alleviate the problems. Some of the answers include different therapists and therapy.
Even though there should be no inconvenient aspects of online mental health treatments, they do exist. BetterHelp, on the other hand, guarantees a return to any dissatisfied buyer who paid to get treated.
Who pays better TalkSpace or BetterHelp?
Better Help is said to pay roughly $30 per hour, whereas TalkSpace is said to offer around $20 per hour. When compared to the typical hourly rate of a therapist running their own practice, which is roughly $100, this equates to a 75 percent pay cut. It’s possible that there’s little incentive to pay therapists greater money.
Is BetterHelp worth the money?
Therapy is pretty much “worth it” in general. Despite the fact that most of us can benefit immensely from counseling, far too many of us neglect our own mental health and emotional well-being. Therapy has the potential to significantly improve one’s quality of life. Yes, BetterHelp is worth the money and a good deal if you discover that online treatment and live sessions are as beneficial and fruitful for you as traditional, in-person therapy.
BetterHelp can be a lot less expensive than standard treatment sessions, which can cost anywhere from $100 to $250 per session. Some therapists who are in high demand charge considerably more. The longer duration of these in-person sessions accounts for a portion of the greater expense. However, outside of your in-person appointments, you may not have the opportunity to communicate with your therapist. Because of services like guided journaling, webinars, and unrestricted instant messaging with your therapist, BetterHelp’s value is particularly high.
However, the value of therapy comes when you discover a therapist with whom you can build a really productive and beneficial routine and working relationship, as with any therapy. BetterHelp makes it simple to identify and switch therapists as necessary. This increases your chances of receiving effective treatment.
Does BetterHelp have a free trial?
No, BetterHelp does not presently provide free trials. You can, however, sign up for BetterHelp news to be informed about their great offers.
Can you get diagnosed on BetterHelp?
I’m sorry to hear you had to go through such a difficult time as a child. When parents don’t recognize or believe in mental illness, it can be tough, and it often inhibits people like you from receiving effective treatment earlier in life, prolonging unnecessary suffering. Older habits and irrational thought processes are more difficult to break, and it may take several months of treatment to acquire new coping skills and how to confront problematic thought patterns learned over time based on your specific experiences.
The first step in establishing a diagnosis is to have a licensed professional evaluate and examine your health, present and prior symptoms, past experiences, and family history. This could be your primary care doctor, a counselor, a social worker, or a psychiatrist. Once you’ve received a diagnosis, you may discuss with your doctor what kind of treatment you’ll need, whether it’s medication, therapy, or a mix of the two.
We provide online counseling through Betterhelp, an internet platform. While internet therapy has numerous advantages, such as accessibility, it also has certain drawbacks. We are unable to provide an official diagnosis or confirmation of a diagnosis because we have not met you and do not provide formal face-to-face exams.
While having a diagnosis is beneficial, it is not always necessary to receive the treatment you require. When doctors prescribe medication or you receive treatments that are covered by your insurance, a diagnosis is usually necessary. You would be able to work with a therapist to explore and process your present difficulties and concerns, develop new coping skills, and challenge irrational thought processes that contribute to your current mental health state through therapy.
However, there are some illnesses that might benefit more from a formal diagnosis than others. If you think you might have autism, ADHD, bipolar illness, or PTSD and need more specialized treatment and/or drugs, it’s best to seek an official diagnosis from a healthcare specialist.
How do I quit BetterHelp?
If you have a BetterHelp account and want to entirely unsubscribe from BetterHelp’s services, follow these steps:
- Go to Menu > My Account (or Account settings) > Payment settings > Quit Therapy if you’re currently getting therapy.
Can you be diagnosed through BetterHelp?
You can check whether a counselor offers video, voice, or messaging sessions when choosing a counselor. We suggest going with a counselor that gives video sessions rather than a psychologist who simply offers chat services.
Does BetterHelp work?
We wish there was an easy answer to this issue, but the most straightforward response we can give is “probably.”
A growing number of peer-reviewed research publications back up the effectiveness of “teletherapy,” or therapy delivered via videoconferencing technology. Here are a few examples:
- Susan X. Day and Paul L. Schneider (2002). “A Comparison of Face-to-Face, Video, and Audio Treatment in Psychotherapy Using Distance Technology.” 499-503 in Journal of Counseling Psychology.
- Daniel R. Stubbings, et al (2013). “A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing In-Person to Videoconference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Mood and Anxiety Disorders.” 15(11): e258 in Journal of Medical Internet Research.
- Zurich University is located in Zurich, Switzerland (2013). “Internet-based psychotherapy is as good as, if not better than, face-to-face consultations.” ScienceDaily.
These studies back up the claim that video therapy sessions with a qualified therapist are just as successful as in-person therapy sessions with a similarly qualified therapist.
The problem is that BetterHelp doesn’t differentiate between the three types of therapy it offers on its website: video sessions, phone sessions, and message therapy. We, on the other hand, make a clear distinction between these three modes. We don’t suggest phone sessions as much as video sessions, and we don’t recommend messaging as a replacement for real-time therapy sessions at all; rather, we recommend it as a supplement to them.
While research backs up the effectiveness of video therapy, it doesn’t back up text-based therapy. “There is no data demonstrating that texting alone is a useful tool for psychotherapy,” the American Psychological Association stated emphatically.
Text messaging can be soothing and even therapeutic, but it should never be used in place of more meaningful communication. It should only be used as a supplement to live sessions, not in place of them.
Is BetterHelp legitimate?
BetterHelp’s legitimacy, like that of most other Silicon Valley tech start-ups, is determined by how you evaluate its business strategy.
BetterHelp is a commercial enterprise. It is a digital matchmaking service that connects counselors who want to give online counseling services with those who wish to receive those services through an online platform with a specified design.
BetterHelp goes to great lengths to vet its counselors and ensure that they are fully licensed. It does not, however, guarantee that the services you obtain on its website are the same as those you would receive at a doctor’s office. It expresses unequivocally that its services are insufficient for the giving of clinical diagnosis that could be utilized in court or to receive compensation from an insurance company.
This isn’t to say that the BetterHelp counselor or therapist you work with isn’t legally able to diagnose you; it just means that they can’t do it through the BetterHelp platform.
This, we believe, is due to BetterHelp’s desire to reduce its liability in providing a service that may be legally risky. This is common of companies attempting to reduce their liabilities.
Even though BetterHelp seeks to restrict its liability, it’s crucial to remember that the therapist you wind up seeing on the platform bears the responsibility for ensuring the treatment is suitable. Licensed therapists must verify that their therapy complies with the “standard of care,” and they must actively assess your suitability to use the platform.
Finally, you must decide whether or not the platform’s legal and clinical constraints are a deal breaker for you.
How does online counseling differ from in-person counseling?
The experience of video therapy is comparable to that of in-person treatment sessions. When the therapist and the client do not share the same physical environment, however, something is lost. At its essence, therapy is about intimacy, and when people are divided by screens, this closeness suffers. It’s comparable to the difference between spending time with your significant other face to face versus Skyping with them.
According to research studies such as the ones described above, these variances have a minor rather than a major impact on therapy outcomes. The video format also has a greater influence on some types of therapy than others.
We noted a large number of therapists on BetterHelp who cite cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or solution-focused therapy (SFT) as their primary techniques when we looked through the list of therapists. These are short-term treatments that aim to improve symptoms by altering the way people think.
We discovered that psychodynamic therapy is offered by fewer therapists on BetterHelp. Psychodynamic treatment affects emotional development by forming a close bond between the therapist and the client. This type of close interaction necessitates acute empathy as well as quick and unambiguous answers to subtle nonverbal communication, which are more challenging to achieve online.
We believe that therapists who incline toward online treatment are more likely to work online since they are familiar with their therapy approaches.
Their methodologies (CBT, SFT) are relatively “manualized,” which appears to aid translation to the online format.
Is online counseling with BetterHelp effective?
Probably. The effectiveness of BetterHelp counseling is determined by a number of factors:
Which of the three modalities (video, voice, and messaging) do you like to use?
BetterHelp, we believe, is only as good as the counselors who work on its platform. It’s a matching service that brings together counselors from all backgrounds, and it’s just like brick-and-mortar clinics and private counseling practices when it comes to service quality.
Many customers indicate they like the counselor they’re matched with on BetterHelp in their ratings. One of our greatest complaints about the site is how ineffective its algorithm was at pairing us with counselors. We should point out that we have a lot of experience with therapy and can be choosy.
Still, we advocate doing your own research and selecting a counselor by hand, or being willing to switch counselors until you find one who is a good fit. In many circumstances, finding a counselor who is a good fit on BetterHelp may be easier than finding one locally (especially if you live outside of a major metro area).
What reviews exist for BetterHelp?
It’s tough to find objective feedback from BetterHelp clients. On-site evaluations concentrate on single counselors rather than the entire service. We looked for a long time and the most comprehensive review we could find was written by us (ahem). It can be found here. You might also want to look through reddit’s first-person accounts.
The authenticity of reviews published by the people and pages BetterHelp promotes has been a source of contention (like us). Many dubious good ratings have surfaced on YouTube, which has now become a hotbed of criticism of BetterHelp’s Terms of Service, payment mechanism, and other concerns.
We believe that in the midst of the debate, certain basic truths have gone buried. BetterHelp’s problems as a company and platform are less likely to affect your experience than whether or not you discover a good match among the therapists on the site. If, given your schedule and location, online therapy is the best option for you, we believe it is a good, legitimate option worth investigating.
BetterHelp has taken every effort to stay out of legal trouble. It does check to see if its counselors are licensed, but it won’t ensure that the services you get are similar to in-person counselling. We recommend using your common sense and conducting your own research to ensure that you discover a good therapist on the site who is a good fit for you.
Can I get diagnosed on BetterHelp?
No. While many of the BetterHelp counselors are certified to diagnose clients, the site’s policy and Terms of Service expressly prohibit using the site “for the purpose of providing clinical diagnosis.”
Can BetterHelp prescribe medication?
No. Any counselor or therapist who is not a Doctor of Medicine (MD)that is, a psychiatristhas traditionally been prohibited from prescribing drugs. In several places, psychiatric nurse practitioners can also prescribe medicine, albeit there are some exceptions.
Psychologists (PhDs or PsyDs) and master’s-level counselors (LCSWs, LPCs, MFTs, etc.) are unable to prescribe medicine because it is beyond their scope of practice (while counseling or therapy is considered to be their particular realm of expertise).
Regardless of your counselor’s credentials, BetterHelp’s Terms of Service forbids the use of its site for drug or medical treatment advice or information.
What relationship does OpenCounseling have with BetterHelp?
BetterHelp is a terrific alternative for many people, and we see them as a natural partner in our quest to assist people obtain inexpensive counseling. We don’t think it’s the right fit for everyone, though. When it comes to choosing from the many possibilities for cheap counseling that we report on our site, we defer to our users.
Objectivity and our ethical obligation to our users are important to us. Most of our staff members have used BetterHelp and paid for it out of their own money. We never take freebies and attempt to write on BetterHelp’s benefits and drawbacks objectively. More information about our affiliate relationship policies can be found here.
Is BetterHelp counseling legit?
While we can’t speak for all of them, BetterHelp is a reliable organization. Since 2015, it has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau. BetterHelp complies with HIPAA regulations and provides a safe and secure environment for users to communicate with a counselor.