It also provides additional services like journaling and group therapy sessions. Our user survey demonstrates a similar opinion: 66% of BetterHelp users described the process of looking for a therapist to be easy or very easy, while only 57% of Brightsides users felt the same way. Last medically reviewed on February 6, 2023. Therapy offers a broad array of benefits for all of us. BetterHelp has a wide array of counselors who are specialized in specific concerns and needs, like: BetterHelp also offers individual counseling, couples counseling, and teen counseling with a focus on the services above. 2023 Dotdash Media, Inc. All rights reserved. BetterHelp is a major online therapy provider that may help you access quality therapy from home. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Heres our process. Brightsides therapy sessions run just 30 minutes long, and all use cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as the main therapeutic technique. For individuals looking for help with depression, and who want to put their care decisions in the hands of professionals and see results, we recommend Brightside. It also offers couples and teen therapy, with free live weekly group seminars available. Check out our FAQ Page. Brightside vs. BetterHelp: Types of Therapy, Brightside vs. BetterHelp: How Therapy Sessions Work, Brightside vs. BetterHelp: Therapist Qualifications, Brightside vs. BetterHelp: Switching Therapists, Brightside vs. BetterHelp: Privacy Policies, Brightside vs. BetterHelp: User Satisfaction, Daily Tips for a Healthy Mind to Your Inbox, Individual Therapy, Medication Management, Psychiatry. account registration personal information. BetterHelp is part of Teladoc Health Inc.. Second, we also include links to advertisers offers in some of our articles; these affiliate links may generate income for our site when you click on them. Whats clear is that Brightside makes billing your insurance relatively easy, while with BetterHelp, its nearly impossible. To establish that the product manufacturers addressed safety and efficacy standards, we: We do the research so you can find trusted products for your health and wellness. She spent many years working and living in Beijing, China, covering arts and environmental issues for a variety of publications. We include products we think are useful for our readers. There are many pros when it comes to online or teletherapy. To get you started, BetterHelp asks you to complete a questionnaire about why youre seeking therapy, as well as information about the conditions or issues youre living with, plus your preferences regarding a therapist (i.e., age, gender, religion, language). I found my online video sessions with my therapist to be as helpful as my previous experiences with in-person therapy. BetterHelp Rakes in $1B in 2022, as Teladoc Plans to Integrate Behavioral Health into Its Chronic Care Strategy - Behavioral Health Business Digital Health BetterHelp Rakes in $1B in 2022, as Teladoc Plans to Integrate Behavioral Health into Its Chronic Care Strategy By Laura Lovett | January 9, 2023 Porapak Apichodilok They are pouring millions of dollars into advertising to grow their user base. Brightside also gives you the option of adding prescription medication to your plan for an extra $50 a month, while BetterHelp does not. We dont publish any health content until our. The company says its service has helped more than 2.7 million people. The privacy policies at both Brightside and BetterHelp, as well as most online therapy companies, leave something to be desired. Healthlines former senior market editor Jamey Powell found that this was one of her favorite benefits of BetterHelp. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers offers appear on the site. Be it via phone, text, or video call this global company's goal is to make mental health services more widely accessible. Some people may prefer the experience of working with a therapist in person. Its also important to consider what you want included with your plan, if you intend to supplement your sessions with additional support. Online therapy offers a safe, secure way to interact with licensed therapists. However, for those who want to give web-based therapy a try, BetterHelp is a good option. Even if a therapy session is a videoconference, therapists generally only see from the shoulders up. However, many BetterHelp counselors also specialize in specific issues, including: BetterHelp is not the right choice if you have thoughts of hurting yourself or others, are a minor or under the care of a legal guardian or are experiencing an urgent crisis or emergency. products. A 2019 study assessed the effectiveness of BetterHelp for treating depression. BetterHelp does not take insurance. Frequently asked questions about BetterHelp, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7829321/, journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1357633X17730443. Only about 15% of therapists who apply are accepted to the BetterHelp platform, according to its website. Prices range from $60 to $90 a week, depending on how many live sessions you want to schedule. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Neither the site nor its therapists will submit claims for you, and although its FAQ page says you are welcome to try to get reimbursed yourself, it notes that services offered using this site are generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Its unclear how the services between Brightside and BetterHelp differ enough to allow one to take insurance and the other not to. Gratzer D, et al. BetterHelp has expanded its services in recent years and now partners with businesses and universities. That missed session will count as your session for the week. BetterHelp had more users that had switched once22% compared to Brightsides 12%yet Brightside actually had more users that had switched two or three times; 22% of Brightside users had done this, compared to only 11% of BetterHelp users. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout have taken a toll on the mental health of many Americans, according to a March 2021 Pew Research Center report[1]Many Americans Continue to Experience Mental Health Difficulties as Pandemic Enters Second Year. With Brightside, there are no surprises: you can rely on the advertised rate to remain consistent. Insurance companies need these details before they can cover the cost and for record-keeping. At BetterHelp, video sessions are hosted from inside BetterHelps site or app; Brightside uses Zoom to host video sessions. Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. With online therapy, therapy is made more accessible for many people. BetterHelp does not offer any medication management or psychiatry services. Effectiveness of a multimodal digital psychotherapy platform for adult depression: A naturalistic feasibility study. However, BetterHelp should not be used if youre in immediate danger or need critical mental health services. I felt my therapist was an excellent counselor and a good match for the issues that brought me to therapy. Both platforms provide you with your own portal and do the therapist matching for you, and both companies have apps available for iOS or Android. Forbes Health adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. At the same time, resources for face-to-face mental health services werent readily available due to public health concerns. BetterHelp markets itself as the largest online therapy network in the world. This means that everything discussed during appointments is strictly confidential unless theres a case of immediate harm to the user or someone else. The sites and apps for both companies are relatively minimalist and feature similar setups: a scrollable homepage that offers easy-to-digest information about how the service works, with highly prominent links prompting you to sign up scattered throughout the page. She is a licensed social worker with clinical experience in community mental health. With over 20,000 trained, experienced, and accredited therapists covering a wide range of areas - from depression and anxiety to family and couples therapy - it's never been easier to receive personal, professional help when you need it. However, check with your health insurance provider to see whether BetterHelp services could be reimbursed under your policys mental health coverage. BetterHelp offers private, affordable online counseling when you need it from licensed, board-accredited therapists. You get unlimited messaging with your therapist. A: No, BetterHelp is not covered by insurance. Around one-fifth of U.S. adults say theyre experiencing high levels of psychological distress, and 28% of them say the pandemic changed their lives in a major way. The subscription cost may be lower than in-person sessions with a qualified therapist. Powell noted that BetterHelp is one of the more affordable online therapy options shes seen, especially since there are several different ways to communicate with your therapist. BetterHelp is the world's largest therapy service, facilitating over 5,000,000 video sessions, voice calls, chats, and messages every month. Text-based communication (texting and live-chat sessions) are a great way to take some of the anxiety out of starting therapy and help clients dive into the process, says James Imrie, the creative and marketing manager at BetterHelp. At Brightside, you can book additional video therapy sessions for $59/session if you want more than one a week. If youre looking for a mental health provider, what type of treatment are you looking for? For all of last year, Acadia reported $2.61 billion in revenue, a nearly 13% increase over 2021. You can choose to do your therapy sessions via video chat, phone call, live chat, or messaging similar to email. It also. Its also been reviewed by our medical affairs mental health experts and has gone through our vetting process. While this may influence where their products or services appear on our site, it in no way affects our ratings, which are based on thorough research, solid methodologies and expert advice. Our Story Rapid turnaround from sign-up to first session, Surge pricing can result in unexpected fee hikes. It does not prescribe any controlled substances such as Adderall or Xanax. BetterHelp is known to have unscrupulous advertising techniques, and is also currently in hot water for intentionally duping investors about its financial situation. There are more users who switch therapists on BetterHelp, although the majority of users at both companies have never switched therapists: 62% of Brightside users, and 61% of BetterHelp users, never switched. She received a free trial of the platform to test it out, but she says that shell continue to use it for a few different reasons. Here are the 10 best teas for stress in 2022. You may connect with them through text-only messaging in your private chat room. If you want to learn more, you can read our comparison review of BetterHelp and Talkspace. Get help, you deserve to be happy! The researchers suggested that web-based psychotherapy like from BetterHelp showed promise for helping people overcome barriers to getting therapy. Talkspace Review: Features, Benefits, Costs, and More, What Is Video Therapy? She listened to my issues without judgment or criticism. According to BetterHelp, counselors are licensed, trained, experienced, and accredited psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, or licensed professional counselors. The platform doesnt give its users control over the therapist it selects for them (though you can switch). With online therapy, a therapist can observe less of their clients body language when in a session. You may also begin registration by clicking the Get Started button in the top right corner of the site. Headspace vs. BetterHelp is rated as a top teletherapy platform for a variety of mental health concerns. See which other premium units they bought. Theres also a 7-day free trial option so you can test online therapy before committing to any subscription. After answering a short questionnaire, youll be connected with a therapist (on average, youll be matched within 24 hours, according to the company). Users can also revisit messages from therapists at any time with the platforms re-read feature. We researched news about both companies, including any controversy around prescriptions or advertising, investor and performance news, and company history. A 2016 review of high quality studies found that internet-delivered CBT sessions with a therapist reduced various anxiety symptoms at least as much and sometimes more than in-person CBT sessions with a therapist. Both services match you with a therapist after a brief intake survey. The platform makes it simple to find a new match. BetterHelp is a subscription plan with services not generally covered by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. Therapy sessions at BetterHelp are typically 30 minutes, though some therapists may allow for longer sessions upon request. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services. Our website services, content, and products are for informational purposes only. Learn 10 tips to make therapy really. Their campaigns have now expanded over several social media platforms such as YouTube or Instagram. Published May 25, 2021 Advertiser BetterHelp Advertiser Profiles Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest Tagline "Get Real Therapy. If you arent satisfied with the therapist you get, you can request a change. She brings more than a decade of media experience to Forbes Health, with a keen focus on building content strategy, ensuring top content quality and empowering readers to make the best health and wellness decisions for themselves. An algorithm will pair you with a licensed therapist based on your answers. Since theres no commuting for online therapy, it tends to be easier to fit into clients schedules than in-person therapy. Combined with the anytime messaging feature, it does make it much easier to contact your therapist, and gives you more options for scheduling when youre busysuch as if you need to squeeze in a phone session while commuting or a live chat session during your childs soccer practice. 2005-2023 Psych Central a Red Ventures Company. If youd like to share your information with a third party, you first have to notify your therapist. Its available in the United States and the United Kingdom. You can try the service for free for 7 days. I was hooked up with an amazing therapist, and she is so intelligent and kind-hearted. The opinions expressed are the authors alone and have not been provided, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, BetterHelp markets itself as the largest online counseling platform in the world. As an online portal, BetterHelp connects individual consumers with online counseling and therapy services. BetterHelp counseling. In both companies, the personal portal in the app mirrors the one found on the website almost exactly. The biggest downside of online therapy is that there can be technical issues that disrupt a virtual therapy session. Published March 13, 2019 Advertiser BetterHelp Advertiser Profiles Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest Products BetterHelp BetterHelp Membership Songs - Add For emergency care or a crisis, call 911, as BetterHelp cannot handle such situations. Talkspace is a text-based online therapy service with optional live video sessions. If you want to communicate with your therapist outside your scheduled therapy sessions, you can message them, and they will message you back. Facing obstacles . The system does not share your personal phone number with the counselor everything is done through the BetterHelp app. The BetterHelp platform keeps you informed of the process with emails, typically assigning a therapist to you within anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Brightsides messaging feature goes to both your therapist and your care coordinator, and is intended more as a customer service helpline than for actual therapeutic exchanges. We avoid using tertiary references. They can be convenient and private for many people, making them a viable option for receiving coaching and therapy from anywhere and at any time. All BetterHelp counselors have a masters degree or doctorate in their field and at least three years and 1,000 hours of experience. Another report from the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found the pandemic also created new barriers to help for people who already faced substance abuse or other mental health issues[2]The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use. BetterHelp therapists will not diagnose conditions. Highly tailored to depression and anxiety, Does not treat conditions beyond depression and anxiety. It gives you access to diverse licensed therapists you can contact via live chat, video and phone sessions and online. My counselor made suggestions without pushing me to follow them and offered ways I could cope with anxiety, such as breathing exercises and journaling techniques for perceiving fears or worries in a more realistic and logical way. Overall, Acadia reported a total of $675.3 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, a 13.8% increase year over year. If you are looking for a more convenient form of therapy that you can access from the comfort of your own home, BetterHelp may be a better option for you. *Please note: When we say basics in the services offered column, we are grouping anxiety, stress, relationship issues, depression, LGBTQIA+ counseling, and grief counseling together. Similarly, a 2017 review of studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs found that therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was just as effective via videoconference as in person. Read more about BetterHelp insurance coverage. Although they appear similar, there are a few functional differences between the two sites, particularly in the member portals. After completing a survey that consisted of questions about herself, what she was looking to accomplish in therapy, and her current mental state, she was also able to list out preferences she looks for in a therapist. Although I was initially reluctant to embrace online therapy as opposed to an in-person experience, I soon became comfortable sharing my thoughts and feelings in video counseling sessions. The importance of cost to users of each platform was similar: 29% of Brightside found cost to be important, compared to 31% of BetterHelp users. BetterHelp has an average of 4.07 out of 5 stars on Better Business Bureau (BBB) from over 330 customer reviews. Here are our top picks for online, Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. BetterHelp has a 4.6 out of 5 stars rating on Trustpilot from more than 4,100 customer reviews. You can remain anonymous with your therapist. Im actually in another country and time zone as my therapist, and she makes it work.. Switching therapists is much easier at BetterHelp. 7 Cups provides mental-health care through mindfulness exercises, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and interpersonal exercises, along with support for a variety of different needs: 7 Cups matches you with a therapist, so you will not have the option of choosing your therapist. BetterHelp's live chat sessions are hosted from inside the app or site; Brightside does not offer live chat sessions. Site ; Brightside uses Zoom to host video sessions betterhelp advertising intentionally duping investors its. Between the two sites, particularly in the top right corner of the site to first session, Surge can... Health experts and has gone through our vetting process only about 15 % of therapists who apply accepted. Sessions upon request public health concerns according to its website Costs, and she is a videoconference, generally. 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Its services in recent years and 1,000 hours of experience 7 days experiences with in-person therapy a substitute professional!