What is Wrong with BetterHelp? Therapist Reacts!

Therapist explains what is wrong with BetterHelp, and why people are not getting the mental health support they need with BetterHelp. What's the truth behind all the advertising?

Original clips: @grodynodi
Stock footage: Filmpac

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Chapters:
00:00 Intro
01:35 No Vetting
03:48 Not a Substitute for Therapy
09:33 Clients Ghosted
12:35 What Counselors Can Do
14:49 Conclusion

[ewabrzakaa]

I believe one of main issues with BetterHelp was not the therapists themselves but selling information clients gave them (the company) about mental health issues to advertisers.

[moiraslater]

The cost of therapy is ludicrous. Charging huge money from people who can barely put one foot in front of the other, get out of bed, shower or feed themselves.
Needing help and not being able to afford it.

[lorinmccracken]

Good on you for covering this, knowing they will not sponsor you. 💝

[Alayhoo]

Thanks for talking about this! Personally, I have no experience with BetterHelp but I work at the largest academic medical center in my state for our psychiatry outpatient clinics in women’s health and we DO NOT recommend BetterHelp to our patients or employees.

For me, I’m in therapy twice a week and do one session in-person and one online and we do that purposely. When I first started with my current therapist, and my PTSD was much worse, I did online only. We slowly worked up to me coming in person once a week and that works out really well for me because rarely do I have a reason to leave my house regardless of the PTSD as I just prefer my own company and living space, have my groceries delivered and work from home.

I think whether someone is in-person or online for therapy really just depends on the needs and goals of the client. Research and time will tell if one has better outcomes than the other but I suspect like most things it won’t be so black and white, either/or.

[mfinchina__]

When I signed up for BetterHelp, I asked specifically for a therapist who had experience with bereavement and aging-related issues. Not only did the therapist I was assigned to have no experience with these things, she didn't even know I wanted to talk to someone about them. It seems like BetterHelp didn't even pass along the information on my intake form.

[katfromthekong]

I feel like the betterhelp ads try to brainwash you into thinking that you need therapy for everything: breakups or moving house or a stressful week. It's just a money making business.

[amandahugginkiss]

I always felt like Better Help was more for short term problems. Like if you're going through a break up or struggling with school or work. I know those can also be bigger issues, but more so issues that you just want to talk through and be heard. I wouldn't recommend Better Help if you're dealing with serious depression or trauma

[deepwateryaya]

In the end, I simply can’t afford betterhelp — but my specific area of concern with them involved their intake form. As a white queer disabled person I wrote in re the noticeable lack of inquiry around disabled and chronically ill identity in their intake. What I got back sounded like a cheerbot AI telling me how thorough their intake process is (twice!). When a therapy facilitation site can’t directly acknowledge the content of a potential clients communication … 🤦🏽‍♀️

This is an important explainer vid!! Thank you for putting it out there. When ppl are hurting, struggling and looking for a solution the “glitches” in the betterhelp system can add to an already so difficult situation. ❤ 🙏🏽

[ThePedersenHomestead]

I actually had a really good experience with BetterHelp. But I’ve been in in person therapy before several times over the last twenty years, so it wasn’t anything new to me. The pros were the ease of scheduling and finding a therapists as well as groups-which I didn’t think I would like. I really enjoyed the groups. It was cheaper than anyone I could’ve seen here. I live in a rural area and the 4-8 therapists here all know everyone. So I appreciated not having someone who already knew me and how quickly I could see someone. Almost twenty years ago when I had to find an in person therapist it was a bad experience and took forever and I found several weren’t a good fit. So I assumed it would be similar with an online platform and was prepared for that.

[etsprout]

This was such an interesting video! I appreciate the way you explained everything, very enlightening and explains some of the complaints I’ve heard! Liked, subscribed, and commented for engagement 😊

[Lynoxus]

A huge issue I have, personally, is the BetterHelp ads I see that are clearly intended to evoke as much shame as possible in the first few seconds. Shame is a poor motivation for seeking help. It really rubs me the wrong way, and doesn't inspire confidence for me.

[andiwrath]

I used them for the sessions before i found out they could sell your info like frequency and duration of sessions with the counselor, how often you contacted them, and personal info to third parties. I'm not cool with that, so i immediately canceled it.

[sad_doggo]

Very enlightening. As I'm learning from my coursework, problems always come from tbe top down. It's almost never the employees (in this case tbe contractors) that generate systemic issues.

[shannonobrien]

I tried Talk Space. The therapist was covered under my insurance. I liked the therapist and felt like she really listened to me. Unfortunately I was looking for someone who did EMDR which she didn’t do. I tried to find a different therapist on Talk Space who did do EMDR, but this information didn’t seem to be covered in the therapists’ bios.

I am now working on finding someone local.

I had considered Better Help, but the cost was much higher due to them not taking insurance. After watching this video I’m glad I never tried them.

[bekind]

I would not use Better Help. I do at times use telehealth after I get to know my therapist. I feel like an office/physical organization has more security for continuity and excellence of therapy. Not all therapists fit with all patients and vice-versa, but to have someone ghost you when you are putting yourself out there to be vulnerable and do the work would be hard for me. I appreciate your infomation!

[wendypierce]

Better Help was meh, IMO. I was never ghosted, but one of them was only available via text, which was pretty useless. I’ve also had experience with people who seemed way overscheduled. Switching is also not the easiest. I finally got a better online therapy via my health insurance.

[SuperAnya]

I think there would be an issue with ratings for mental health providers, simply because there are enough people who are not in a stable situation, who see a therapist online, may not be able to understand that the suggestions offered to them as valid therapy, and thus might rate the therapist poorly, whereas the therapist was doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

[jenniferfootman]

No documentation required???? Are the sessions all recorded?

To be fair, writing SOAP notes sucks, but I do it to remind myself about what was discussed in the previous session and yo protect myself against false reports.

I cannot imagine not documenting a session

[judyheller]

Your review is fair. I watched reviews of BetterHelp and I thought they were pretty funny reviews.

[becky]

How do I stop being a paid member for your channel? Never paid before and realizing this channel isn't what I'm looking for