BetterHelpReviews of betterhelp.com

I did not get what I paid for. NOT ONE OF MY SESSION WAS ON THE INTERNET. THEY WERE ALL TELEPHONE BECAUSE I COULD NOT SEE MY COUNSELOR. I WAS TOLD IF I DID NOT WANT A SESSION THEN IF I DID NOT PUT IN FOR ONE THEN I DID NOT HAVE TO PAY. THERE IS NO ONE TO TALK TO. COMMUNICATION IS HAPHAZARD. THE SERVICE PLATFORM DID NOT WORK. I DID NOT HAVE THE SERVICE. AND YOU ARE CHARGING ME? THIS IS SO NOT RIGHT. I EVEN REQUESTED TO SPEAK TO A PERSON BUT WAS DENIED.

I was given several online therapy recommendations from friends and opted for Better Help - it was more expensive than a lot of my other options, but I assumed that the quality would be higher. During my first session, though it was moderately helpful, my therapist’s phone went off several times. During one of these instances, I was crying and sharing something very personal. The lack of eye contact immediately made me feel second priority and generally not cared for. I gave the therapist the benefit of the doubt and decided to schedule a second session. During the week of the second session, I was having an extremely hard time and really needed someone to talk to. My therapist didn’t show up to the session and I felt very upset, causing me to feel emotionally withdrawn and further discouraged. She contacted me 40 minutes after our scheduled time to apologize and ask if I was still available. At this point I decided not to have my session because my feelings about her not prioritizing me consumed my then emotions. Based on my experience, I would not use Better Help again, nor would I recommend this platform.

I've had a really awful experience with BetterHelp. I was charged 200 euro upfront and 2 weeks later have yet to have a session. My first session was a disaster, I was left for 30 minutes with my Councillor unable to use the video or chat function properly, and when he finally got through he was muted and unprofessionally chewing gum into the camera. The second Councillor only has availability after 10pm GMT which is a rediculous time for a session. My only option this week was for a midnight session. Clearly the service is aimed at US clients and is more suitable for them time zone wise, but it has been a complete was of time for me. I have written asking for a refund which has not yet been responded to, looking forward to hearing back as soon as possible. I would not recommend this to anyone outside of the US

I tried three mental health professionals through BetterHelp and used about half of my Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefits in doing so. If I had to pay for BetterHelp I would probably not use it because the experience is so hit-and-miss. My first therapist repeatedly violated my boundaries, spoke about himself without my asking him to, and subjected me to treatments without my consent. My second therapist offered quick and surface-level advice, the kind you would find in a motivational novel. He didn't try to know me and my problems and offered off-the-cuff feedback to my ideas. To him I was a checkbox on a list. That was fine with me because I didn't have major problems. BetterHelp customer service was difficult to deal with. Their directory doesn't have enough filters for clients from marginalized communities. They didn't give me a clear overview of the grievance process even when I asked for it. And like I said, the therapist match options are very hit and miss. EDIT: Below, BetterHelp offers to get their Clinical Operations team involved in my experience. Let's be clear: I already tried escalating my concerns through BetterHelp's customer service and was stonewalled, so I'm unsure how trying again would help.

I never used BetterHelp's service because I could not get past the question of cost. Below is the last email I sent to them. If you're looking for the $45/week if billed monthly forget it. "So, you basically lie to people and charge whatever you want on any given day. - In one place it says the cost of therapy ranges from $60 to $90 per week (billed every 4 weeks). That doesn’t sound like a promotional rate. - In another place it says fees range from $40 to $70 per week depending on the plan, and that you offer various billing plans. For a month-long subscription you will charge $180 at the rate of $45 per week. - Yet after I filled out the survey, the payment page states that I would be charged $80/week billed in advance at $320 for a month. There was no other choice offered. - One place it says $95/week billed-weekly or $80/week billed monthly. - They said "We do offer multiple subscription plans (no subscription choices come up) with varying weekly rates and billing frequencies, which range in price from $45-$120 dollars per week. - Prices can fluctuate based on certain criteria like income (you did not ask my income), location (it shouldn’t matter since this is online) and other answers on the questionnaire. We are unable to adjust pricing structure once it’s been set. The cost per year is somewhere between $2,340 and $6,240. You are taking people who are already having problems and jerking them around. I hope this review helps those of you who are cost conscious.

Tl:dr Betterhelp takes advantage of the vulnerable and puts lives at risk and I plan to take legal action on them with your help. *Character limit reached and had to shorten this* Find full comment on reddit on r/talktherapy My partner and I came on some hard times and my partner in particular really needed therapy. We did not have insurance but agreed that we would be willing to pay an upfront fee until she did in a month, there was some urgency to get help as soon as possible. We did some research and came across betterhelp. They offered fees as low as $35 with unlimited communication and also a 3 day trial. We decided to take the opportunity of the 3 day trial with promise of finding a therapist in 48 hours and possibly having one session. We soon found out that the 3 day trial only offered text messaging and it was impossible to have a session during the trial period because most therapists had booked schedules. We had no chance to really “trial” the service. When my partner found someone in the trial period a day later they quickly told her she had to find someone else. Which took another day. Not at all looking promising with what we saw advertised. When my partner had finally got a session with a therapist she was left in tears and absolutely distraught for the next few days. I said she should give the therapist a chance and she had another session and the same thing happened. After this second session her therapists advice was to break up with me and in giving some context I was the only person there and holding her together which she fully admits to. She was completely confused by the counseling and asked to change therapist. After a few days and working out the technical errors of the new surveys she had to take she was offered a new therapist. At this point our relationship was in a tough spot and we were both stressed, upset and in need of some help together. We both strive for growth mindsets and doing the best things we can for our mental health and decided to try to find couples counseling. We found reGain which at the time we did not realize was a partner of better help. We soon found that out when my partner signed up and her first recommended therapist was the one who ruined her emotional state and told her to break off the relationship. This was obviously concerning. I decided to sign up to invite her and we were able to find someone else. During this time my partner was paired with another therapist and had a session with them which went much better than the last session. There was some hope finally. My partner was very active in messaging and journaling within the app however her therapist was not. She scheduled another call with them and they never attended. They took almost 24 hours to even respond in a message! And when they did they offered no apology and simply asked if she wanted to reschedule for the weekend. When my partner messaged she received more radio silence and the weekend passed before she heard back. That weekend my partner had a mental breakdown and I had almost taken her to the hospital if I hadn’t been able to resolve some of it myself. Although in hindsight the hospital might have been the responsible decision - I can’t unfortunately make that professional assessment - although I’m sure a responsible therapist could have. At this point we abandoned the idea of betterhelp and attempted to cancel. We emailed better help to cancel and it took them quite a few days to respond. For the next month there was back and forth emails with long delays and problems left unresolved. Completely frustrated and now quite irritated we finally asked for a refund. When we did they asked us to check our bank statement because they were having trouble locating her account. We reluctantly hadn’t actually checked the account to see the charges at this stage. When we looked we discovered that we not only not been given the discount and were charged fully but were charged TWICE! Totaling $760 for almost ruining our relationship and causing my partner a mental breakdown! Times were already tough due to the pandemic and that fee along with the stress we were enduring felt like a slap in the face. I decided to do some research and found out this was INCREDIBLY common. This absolutely destroyed me. This company is not only taking advantage of the vulnerable, they are potentially harming AND killing them, AND making a terrible name for the wonder that therapy can offer for people. I wish to start a Go fund me campaign to raise funds for legal help and gather evidence from anyone who has been hurt by them so we can stop this. For those involved, if we sue them maybe you can get your money back too.

Non Commutative- While signing up, I requested a female therapist on my preference form but was not matched with a female therapist. I asked if they could switch me to a therapist that I would be more comfortable with before I made a commitment. They responded and asked me to select my top choices from their directory and email them back with my answers. I never heard back from them after emailing them twice, so I will seek out another platform/or a different means of therapy. It is hard enough for people to seek help when they are going through a hard time. Makes me wonder if they are oversaturated with clients and if they are a legitimate source for therapy. I don't want to start spending money with a non communicative service in case there are any issues later on.

I am the partner of someone who used this service. She had a panic attack thinking about having to talk to one of their "trained counselor". During a session she was told "you addiction isn't an addiction because it is not in my book." Then was victim blamed for everything else she wanted to talk about by 2 diffrent counselors.