BetterHelpReviews of betterhelp.com

It was good and Counselor listened well. I would recommend her

My first therapist was Diane McClain. On the surface it seemed like she wanted to help me but she came off as apathetic and disrespectful. I had scheduled a phone session with her but she tried to initiate a video session with me. When she called me and I asked her about it she claimed that she thought it was a video session. Mistakes happen but to make an excuse like that and not even apologize is what I found to be very disrespectful and unprofessional. Throughout the session she wasn't focused on my mental/emotional health and I questioned if she even read my summary. Some of it was career-related, but I had a feeling of being stuck and empty. Instead, she asked me about my family, if I had friends in school, if I went to college, and would talk over me to clarify words that I had either already explained or were trivial in the conversation. She went on to give me unhelpful advice and when I further explained the point of my session with her she told me to try breathing exercises, watch all the videos on a YouTube channel about dealing with anxiety, and a bunch of other homework for our next session. The problem wasn't the methods but she didn't ask me about my mental health or even how I was doing or feeling at the time and she piled on work for me to do for our first session because I had "plenty of time" to do it because I was unemployed. It came off as insensitive since I lost my job due to physical and mental health and feeling overwhelmed and overworked. She kept telling me that I was in control in the session but that was a lie. I couldn't even get her to do a phone session with me initially, get her to acknowledge my mental health or stop her from making tactless comments like how from an outsider's perspective I was "creating my own prison". It was our first session, she didn't ask about my mental well being and only knew the basic level information of my life but still thought it was appropriate to say that. It wasn't. Why would I care what my situation looks like from an outsider's perspective? They don't know my life and the point of the session isn't how my situation "looks" to other people: it's where I'm at and where I can go from there. But, like before she never apologized. After a few days I decided to give Better Help another chance and now I have a much better therapist. She's very empathetic, she listens to my problems, and provides me with helpful information. She encourages me to share whatever I am feeling or what I'm doing in my life. She's always respectful and always wants to learn more about my life while guiding me in the right direction. However, it still doesn't change my first experience and impression of Better Help. If you advertise as a website to help people with their mental health then why not make sure each person on your site meet that standard? Every counselor has a different way of doing things, but no one should have to feel what I felt: that I wasted 45 minutes and $200 for monthly subscription with a counselor that didn't care about my mental or emotional health, didn't care about my personal boundaries and how I wanted a phone session and to work my way up to a video session, and didn't think about how their words could affect someone who is struggling with depression and anxiety.

Very great, convenient service that works with your schedule. Only reason I had to stop was because of the price -- I think even a weekly/bi-weekly option, or being able to pay by week, instead of per month, would have made it more affordable for me. Other than that though, great platform and very useful service!

I wish the app were more accessible for phone users. It's really not technically reliable unless you're using a computer with a camera and mic set up. When I first started, I had trouble with this and almost stopped trying to use the service entirely. My therapist had to inform me herself that I shouldn't even try to use my phone, and that was one of the reasons I chose this app. Aside from this, the therapist I was paired with is so awesome I am glad I stuck through the technical issues. You guys would probably get better reviews and more clientele if you made things more accessible, because vulnerable and depressed people have a hard time wanting therapy to start with and any roadblock feels like an excuse not to get help.

I did not like the way BetterHelp handled appointments. You pay a weekly fee, whether you can book an appointment or not. If your counselor is booked the next week, you pay anyway. Sure, you have unlimited messaging, but that was not what I was looking for. I would suppose that you pay, even when your counselor goes on vacation. There is no phone support for BetterHelp, so all communications are by email. They were reasonably responsive, but I really prefer being able to speak with someone. Also, there is not complete information on the counselors before you make your selection. Among the missing information is the times they accept appointments and the length of the sessions. I switch counselors once and discovered that my sessions dropped from about sixty minutes to thirty minutes.

This review is about BetterHelp and not the counsellors. I had a great counsellor. BetterHelp is a great concept having qualified and credible therapist on their books from all over the world so there is no limitation to where someone can find a therapist. I live in the UK and could not find a Therapist /counsellor willing to give me a session after 5pm in my own timezone due to my working hours So going to BetterHelp was useful that I could find someone the other side of the world that fit into my timezone. E.G when they start work it is my evening. However, I would say that BetterHelp perhaps needs to work on their communication and payment process. It was very confusing and misleading at times. You can only book if you set up an auto-pay taken 4 weekly. Given the covid climate of people being furloughed and in financial difficulties it is not always affordable to have such large sums taken on a monthly basis. There was no room for flexibility of paying week by week. I would say this is an area they should rethink and of course the customer service communication and perhaps should have case holders where only one BetterHelp customer agent handles and communicates with same client and not have a different person replying each time. This is where the confusion lies I believe. Otherwise if you can afford monthly auto-payments, I would recommend the actual sessions from counsellors and available messagings services. Customer communication needs more work I'm afraid.

Better matching of therapist w individuals would help. Better tech support for clinicians to be able to start sessions on time. I’ve wasted 3 weeks and don’t feel I was even listened to.

Councillor was good however it was next to impossible to book a spot due to Timezone differences. With the therapist not able to make one of the appointments and myself being on holiday the next week, for a month of subscription I could only get one appointment.