Betterhelp Reviews 2023: Is This Online Therapy Worth It?

About The Brand

Betterhelp was founded in 2013 by Danny Bragnier and Alon Matas. Prior to that, they worked on Billy.com together—a site that connects homeowners to contractors. They had the idea after struggling to find good therapists for themselves. Its mission is to make therapy “accessible, affordable, and convenient.”

What Is Betterhelp?

Betterhelp is an online platform that you can use on your phone or desktop to access licensed, trained, experienced and accredited psychologists for talk therapy. They’re the largest therapy service and they’re 100% online.

With a monthly subscription starting at of $240/month, you have access to one of over 30,000 licensed therapists available. Your subscription includes unlimited texts, calls, and videos with your therapist. Based on your questionnaire, you’re matched with a therapist. You can change your therapist at any time.

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Best Reputation

Betterhelp

• 100% online talk therapy
• Connect with licensed therapists
• Video, phone, or text

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20% Off First Month Coupon: midss

Does It Really Work?

Yes! Betterhelp is a legitimate and reputable online therapy platform. They’re recognized by Mental Health America and the International Society for Mental Health Online. They’ve also helped 2.9 million people at the time of this writing! You can access their 30K+ licensed therapists, 100% online.

25,000 Licensed Betterhelp Therapists

Betterhelp has over 30,000 vetted therapists available for you to match with. They share that all their therapists are “accredited psychologists (Ph.D. / Psy.D.), licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFT), licensed clinical social workers (LCSW / LMSW), or licensed professional therapists (LPC).” They all meet their state’s requirements to practice psychotherapy professionally, which means they all have at least 3 years and 1,000 hours of experience.

You can access each therapist’s detailed bios with their individual patient reviews on their therapist director^[1].

They also allow you to easily request a new therapist at any time to be rematched with a new professional.

100% Online Therapy

Unlike traditional therapy, Betterhelp is accessed completely virtually and doesn’t offer the option for in-person therapy. All you have to do is join their app on your phone or go to Betterhelp.com.

Once you sign up and connect with your therapist, you can contact them 24/7 for $360 per month. You’re able to schedule your sessions through texts, calling or video—all from the comfort of your own home!

Pros

• Quickly connect with a licensed therapist
• Contact your therapist 24/7
• Access therapy in the comfort of your own home
• Use video, call, or text
• Convenient, user-friendly platform
• Easy, subscription pricing

Cons

• Therapists aren’t allowed to provide diagnoses based on the terms of service
• It may not be suitable for all mental health conditions
• They’re not able to provide prescriptions or medication

Benefits Of Betterhelp

A 2019 study^[2] out of the University of California collected data from 318 active Betterhelp users. After 3 months of therapy, 37.8 of the participants experienced “clinically significant improvement in depressive symptoms.”

Alternatives to Betterhelp

Product
Name	Talkspace	Cerebral	Wellnite
Pros	1 rated online therapy Medication management Accept insurance	Medication Management Online therapy and coaching Accept insurance	Same-day care Medication Management Focused on health equity Multiple pricing plans
Cons	Live sessions are an upcharge Talkspace may analyze your conversation with AI	Not available in all states They cannot prescribe controlled substances	They cannot prescribe controlled substances Only some therapists have bios online
Full review	Talkspace Review	Cerebral Review	Wellnite Review
Link	Sign Up Now Exclusive $100 OFF first month: SPACE	Sign Up Now	Sign Up Now

How To Use Betterhelp?

Betterhelp is extremely simple to use! Just go to their app on your phone or Betterhelp.com on your computer. From there you click “Get Started” to answer a pretty thorough questionnaire.

The questionnaire is about 20-25 questions long and includes a range of questions covering basic demographics, physical health and mental status. They also ask what you’re looking for in a therapist and what therapy style you prefer. Other users say that their therapist reached out within 48 hours.

Once you match with your therapist, you can decide when and how you’d like to schedule your first session—text, phone, or video? With your monthly subscription, you’ll be able to talk to your therapist as much as you want! You’re also free to message them 24/7.

Who Should Use Betterhelp?

Betterhelp might be right for you if you’re not feeling like yourself and want to maximize your potential. Or f you are dealing with a specific challenging situation. Or you’re trying to improve the quality of your life. They also share that they have therapists who specialize in stress, anxiety, relationships, parenting, depression, addictions, eating, sleeping, trauma, anger, family conflicts, LGBT matters, grief, religion, self-esteem, and more.

Betterhelp^[3] shares that you should not use them if:

• If you are a minor or under the care of a legal guardian
• Or you are in an urgent crisis or an emergency situation
• A court order or any other authority requires you to undergo therapy
• You do not have a device that can connect to the Internet or you do not have a reliable Internet connection

Online Therapy Vs. On-site Therapy

Some avid on-site therapy goers are very skeptical of online therapy. Like can it really be as good as on-site therapy? Yes!

Although there are pros and cons to both, the National Center for Health Research^[4] shares “one study that directly compared the effectiveness of the online CBT to in-person CBT found that the two methods of therapy were equally effective at reducing depression.”

Does Insurance Cover Betterhelp?

Betterhelp shares that “Neither Betterhelp nor Therapists on the Betterhelp Platform submit claims to Medicare, Medicaid or health insurers. Services offered using this site are generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid.”

They’ve tried to price themselves competitively. Even if your health insurance covers talk therapy, they might not cover all of it or your co-pay could be really high. Some insurance providers also require an official diagnosis before they’ll pay or reimburse therapy.

Betterhelp Reviews: What Do Real Users Say?

Betterhelp has over 1,000 positive reviews on its website and is given an A rating from the Better Business Bureau^[5] (BBB). However, it’s also important to note that they have 463 complaints on BBB. Most of the complaints seem to be around billing or having a hard time switching therapists.

5 stars

“I just needed to feel like myself again. After a few life changes and just episodes of feeling down that I couldn’t shake, I wanted to talk to someone. Better help made it so easy that I stopped delaying therapy. My therapist is so personable that I forget she has other clients. She’s helped me get back to myself and enjoy my life again.”

Amanda Carter

5 stars

“Better Help has been a HUGE help lately. I’m a life long ADHD male and have always struggled with several key things in my life and never fully understood why I felt a particular way, even when I knew I was thinking wrong. For instance: I’m a small business owner and operator and I have a hard time invoicing people the full amount of my hourly wages even though I know I’m already giving them a great deal!”

Charles Rackley

4 stars

“The therapist I was assigned turned out to be a great fit for me. He’s professional and empathetic but also challenges me to find a path to healing. I’ve been with other therapist before and am happy to say the Betterhelp system is well put together.”

Bruce