Better Help is not real psychotherapy. Real therapists might work at the national online “therapy” platform Better Help, but they are not positioned to offer reliable, quality, psychotherapy.
Better Help is Big Business
Better Help is a massively top heavy model whose income comes exclusively from the work of grunts…in this case, therapists. As grunts, therapists get a very small percentage of your payment. That is okay, as they are at choice to take the job or not, but here it how that impacts you, the client.
- Only entry level therapists take such a low fee for their work. Entry level therapists can do a great job in this field, but only with relevant supervision. So you will be working with a novice, with little clinical support, regardless of what you need/are/bring to the table or pay for the service.
- That novice will leave their job soon, likely for a more reasonable income*, so your work with them will be limited to a handful of months. You may only be interested in a few months of “support”. Great. That isn’t really psychotherapy though. Get a coach. Got to a 12-step program. Join a support group. They cost less. Psychotherapy benefits from a relationship that ends when the client is done with the piece of work they came to do, rather than being disrupted by a therapist’s early departure.
- Better Help, fat with money, has done an awesome advertising campaign. They have pitched an image of therapists as endlessly available, always encouraging, in your back pocket, for guidance and kindness. Great image. Not therapy. Having a champion in your back pocket is a great thing. In real therapy, we will help you grow that inside yourself, so you won’t don’t have to rely on a text response from a “therapist” to ground yourself.
Find a Therapist Near You Instead
Better Help, and their other national copycat companies, have done a good job destigmatizing therapy, normalizing it, and offering an easy way for people to find a therapist, an otherwise intimidating task. Here are some alternative tactics for landing in relevant, real, solid psychotherapy that can flexibly accommodate your needs, even as your needs change.
Do you know a therapist you think is likely good? If so, they are the best place to start.
- Ask them if they have someone they recommend for you. You might have to give them some specifics to help them make a good match for you.
- We are a word-of-mouth business model for a reason. It is a relationship in which we hope to help you heal.
- If they don’t live in your area, ask them to look through Psychology Today** profiles for your area with you. The profiles do a good job of capturing some information that will help you and the therapist identify some good matches to try.
Do you have friends who might be in therapy?
- This isn’t a great way to go, as their therapist is unlikely to be a good match for you, but if you think your friend is savvy, then their therapist is likely savvy too, and might be able to help you connect.
Psychotherapy Group Practices
- There are likely some group practices in your area. Some unfortunately work a lot like Better Help, relying on novice therapists, at low pay, with high turnover, and minimal supervision. But check out their websites, look through their therapists, get a feel for the different practices in your area. You don’t have to pick your own therapist, but it will give you a feel for if the practice works with established therapists, with a range of advanced education/training/skills.
Finding a good match with a real therapist is worth a little investment of time and a few phone calls. Quality really matters in this field.
*Many people in the field of therapy are willing to work at extremely low rates, but that is so they can reduce or eliminate the fee for the client, not to make profit for big business.
**Overall, I think Psychology Today does a great job and is a good source of information about therapists available in your area. I just also think having a therapist you trust go through the profiles with you will help you land a good match.
Smith is an analytically oriented psychotherapist with 30 years in practice. She is the Founder/Director of Full Living: A Psychotherapy Practice, which specializes in matching clients with seasoned clinicians in the Greater Philadelphia Area, co director of Ketamine Kollaborations, and author of Prepare Yourself, Your Clients and Your Practice for Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy: A Step by Step Guide
If you are interested in therapy and live in Pennsylvania, please let Full Living: A Psychotherapy Practice match you with a skilled, experienced psychotherapist based on your needs and issues as well as your and own therapists’ personalities and styles. Our therapists are available for tele health conferencing by phone or video as well as live sessions.
FOR POSTS ON SIMILAR TOPICS, FOLLOW THE LINKS BELOW:
Listen to Your Unconscious (a video blog)
Up-Selling Psychotherapy: Are Therapists Even Allowed to Do That?