How Does Betterhelp Work?

Is Betterhelp Worth It?

How does Betterhelp work? Have you ever decided something wouldn’t work without trying it? I know I’ve done it. Why do we do this?

While it’s possible to work on reducing your social anxiety on your own, it’s often easier with the help of someone.

Often, in search of help, we turn to people we know. A friend who is a good listener. A teacher who offers advice. A family member who’s always been there for us.

These are good places to start. Receiving support from anyone is better than receiving it from nobody.

But have you ever wondered if there’s a better way? Is there someone else who could support you in a more intentional way? Wouldn’t it be great to have someone listening who has the expertise to offer solutions to help you?

If you’ve never tried therapy, don’t assume it won’t help you. I truly wish it was something I’d received years earlier than I did. Getting my performance anxiety under control was critical to where I am today.

What to Know About Betterhelp

• Betterhelp online therapy is the largest online counseling platform worldwide.
• Therapists with Betterhelp are licensed and experienced psychologists (PhD/PsyD), marriage and family therapists (LMFT), clinical social workers (LCSW/LMSW) or licensed professional counselors (LPC) with at least 3 years and 2,000 hours of hands-on experience.
• I have used Betterhelp myself and was pleased with the quality of the service and support I received.
• Betterhelp is ideal if you can’t afford in-person therapy or need more convenient access to a therapist.
• You can choose between video chats, phone calls, live chats, or messaging.
• You pay a flat fee regardless of how much you use the service. The cost is $65 USD per week, billed monthly.
• You can switch therapists easily if you’re not satisfied with the first one.

How Therapy Can Help Social Anxiety

How does Betterhelp work? Learning to manage performance anxiety is a key part of my success story. If it weren’t for spending time in one-on-one therapy, I would likely still be stuck fearing public speaking and any situation where I was the center of attention.

To be clear, I’d tried a lot of things on my own and was still struggling. I had pretty much given up. I figured that this was just who I was.

But thankfully, that was not the end of my story.

Therapy taught me how to practice progressive muscle relaxation, face my fears in a gradual way, and become a confident public speaker.

This had an impact on the rest of my life. Instead of avoiding public speaking or being the center of attention, I experienced much more ease and confidence.

If it weren’t for one-on-one therapy, I’m confident I would not be where I am today.

I learned the hard way though. It wasn’t until I was in a crisis that I finally reached out for help and luckily was in the right place to receive it.

That doesn’t have to be you! Help is available to you in a much easier way than it was for me many years ago.

Betterhelp offers online therapy with licensed therapists. Through their service, you have access to your therapist in whatever format you choose: video chat, telephone, text-based chat, or messaging. You can access your therapist from the comfort of your home!

Not only that, but you can send messages to your therapist at any time of the day.

One-on-one therapy made it possible for me to graduate from university. And the skills I learned in therapy have continued to serve me to this day. At the time of writing this, I’ve been performance anxiety-free for 20 years!

It’s hard for me to imagine where I would be right now if I hadn’t gotten help.

FAQ About Betterhelp

Is online therapy right for me?

If you’ve been thinking about therapy for a while but don’t have local resources or insurance (or even if you do), don’t have time to travel to appointments, or fear seeing a therapist face-to-face, online therapy could definitely be for you.

You’ll need an hour once per week to communicate with your therapist and you’ll need to commit to showing up for your scheduled session (whether it’s via phone, video chat, or text chat).

I can’t afford it right now, but I think it would help me. What should I do?

First of all, I would never encourage you to sign up for something you can’t afford. That being said, sometimes it’s a matter of priorities. Do you have any wiggle room in your budget?

One way to deal with this is to take the cost of the service out of some other category of your budget (or a few) and then cut back in those areas.

Also, if you have insurance be sure to check whether online therapy is reimbursed! Ever since the pandemic started, online therapy has become the norm and many insurance companies have changed their rules.

I’m nervous about talking to a therapist. Will this work for me?

I was nervous too when I first signed up! But, the sessions are completely anonymous.

You can tell your therapist how you want to communicate and you can take it as slow as you want. Best of all, you can switch therapists easily if needed.

When it comes to social anxiety, I don’t think there’s really a better way to receive therapy.

Is the service worth it?

I would never recommend anything to you that I wouldn’t tell my own friends and family about. If you have no lower-priced local options (be sure to check on this first!), this service is totally worth it.

I want to sign up, but I’m not sure yet if it’s right for me.

I would encourage you if you’re not sure, to give it a try for the free one-week trial. That’s long enough to assess the service and decide whether to continue. If you decide not to continue, be sure to cancel your subscription so you don’t get charged.

You can learn more about Betterhelp and sign up HERE.

What to Know About Betterhelp Therapy

I’m a huge fan of online therapy for social anxiety because it makes therapy accessible for anyone who is too anxious to see someone in person. How does Betterhelp work?

• Betterhelp online therapy connects you with a licensed therapist for weekly sessions and text chat between sessions.
• I’ve tried it myself and was pleased with the service.
• You can choose between video chat, telephone, or text-based chat.
• Betterhelp costs $65 per week (billed monthly), which is much less than you would normally pay for in-person visits. Your first month will be discounted 20% if you use my link.

Special Offer on Betterhelp

Did you know that Betterhelp online therapy offers my readers an exclusive 20% discount for your first month of therapy?

I negotiated a special rate for my readers. If you sign up through my link, you’ll receive your first month of online therapy for 20% off the regular price!

Click here to sign up for Betterhelp online therapy

Betterhelp Online Counseling Review

Are you looking for a Betterhelp review to decide about online therapy? If so, look no further.

In this post, I share information about the online therapy service Betterhelp to help you make an informed decision.

I will discuss benefits, things to watch out for, and who this service might be best suited for.

I have also used their service myself, so I am sharing not only from my research but also based on my personal experience.

Overall, I think that Betterhelp is a good option for the right type of person who has the right expectations. Let’s dive in!

Betterhelp Company Profile

Betterhelp is an online counseling portal that connects therapists with clients in a direct-to-consumer model.

The company was founded in 2013 by Alon Matas and Danny Bragonier.

Matas had experienced trouble finding therapy that accommodated his schedule and wanted to provide an alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy.

In 2015, Betterhelp was acquired by Teladoc Inc.

Therapist Qualifications

Betterhelp therapists must have a master’s or doctorate and are licensed psychologists, family therapists, clinical social workers, and licensed professional counselors.

Each professional must have 3 years and 2000 hours of experience to become a service provider for Betterhelp.

How Betterhelp Works

To get started with Betterhelp, you fill out a questionnaire that helps them match you to an appropriate therapist. Below are some other things to know.

Therapist Communication

All plans include unlimited text-based chat, as well as weekly scheduled phone or video sessions if you so choose.

Although chat is unlimited, this does not mean that your therapist is available at all hours of the day to respond. Nor should they be!

Once you get started, you chat with your therapist in a secure chat room.

I found this part of the process easy and intuitive without any issues.

My therapist initially wanted to talk on the phone or do a Skype chat, but I preferred text chat and she was fine with that.

Pricing/Cost

At the time of writing this review, the cost for the service is $65 per week billed monthly.

If you cannot afford the service due to your income, you can apply for financial aid to reduce the fee that you pay. This usually is only for the first month.

If you are an employee or have an insurance plan, be sure to also investigate whether they will pay for online therapy.

You may need to pay upfront and submit receipts for insurance payments.

Betterhelp Vs. Traditional Therapy: Pros and Cons

Pros

I’ve listed below all of the potential benefits of Betterhelp.

• With text messaging, there is no pressure to reply right away
• You can go back and re-read chat sessions for things you may have missed or can’t remember
• You can message your therapist throughout the week
• You can message your therapist after an anxiety attack rather than waiting until your weekly appointment
• If your online therapist happens to be in your state (province, etc.) you might be able to meet in person
• It’s easy to change therapists if you find the first one not suitable. In trying out the service, I did go through the process of changing therapists and it was incredibly easy. Not only that, but I was able to read bios of multiple therapists and choose the one I wanted.
• It costs a fraction of what in-person therapy would cost.
• Your therapists may be available at non-standard times for sessions (like 5 am if that works better for you!)
• You can receive therapy from the comfort of your home (particularly good if you live somewhere that in-person therapy is not readily available)
• You can save time not making trips to see a therapist

Cons

Below I list some things to be aware of before you use the service.

• You will be turned down for therapy if you have a severe mental health issue or report having suicidal thoughts (I find this reasonable, as an online therapist may not be equipped to help a person in this situation. However, I have empathy for those who have been turned down for this reason)
• Some therapists might be more available more than others. If yours is not getting back to you quickly enough, maybe think about switching therapists. (And, if you are in crisis, don’t text your therapist—call a crisis line)
• It may take some time to find a therapist who is the right fit for you (however, this is also true of in-person therapy, for which the cost is higher and it is harder to switch)
• If you feel that you are in therapy mode all the time, try not to overuse the text option.
• If you feel unsupported with text/chat alone, try to get a phone call/video chat session so you can connect better.

Level of Support

The level of support that you receive from Betterhelp is comparable to traditional therapy even though it comes in a different format.

If you are currently relying on friends to talk about your issues or you don’t see yourself ever going to in-person therapy, then the support you receive from Betterhelp will be significant.

Betterhelp Effectiveness

I’ve compiled some tips to help make Betterhelp work the best for you!

• Make sure to put in the effort if you use the service.
• Schedule a phone or video session once a week and then supplement that with chat therapy through the week.
• If you aren’t happy with your therapist, switch until you are.
• Create a schedule for sessions and stick to it.

(If you want to hear from someone who has used the service, I suggest this video from Faith Mariah at Radical Transformation Project! She uses the service herself for full-time therapy and has lots of good feedback.)

Confidentiality and Privacy

You can be anonymous and you don’t need to use your real name with your therapist when using Betterhelp.

If you have privacy concerns, you can also choose to use chat-based therapy only. You don’t need to use the phone or video chat.

Just as with traditional therapy, all sessions with your therapist are confidential and will not be shared.

How to Sign Up for Betterhelp

If you are thinking about using Betterhelp, you can sign up HERE.

Readers of About Social Anxiety receive a 20 percent discount off of the first month of therapy.

Final Betterhelp Review Thoughts

If you are living with social anxiety, Betterhelp is a good option for therapy. This is especially true if in-person therapy feels too anxiety-provoking.

With Betterhelp, you can gradually move from text-based chat to telephone calls, and from telephone calls to video calls (as you feel comfortable).

In this way, Betterhelp therapy can offer you an ideal therapy environment to work on your social anxiety.

Have you tried the service? I’d love to hear your Betterhelp review.

Related Articles about Online Therapy

• Betterhelp Review: Is It Right for You?
• 5 Ways Online Therapy Can Help Your Anxiety
• 5 Benefits of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety

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How Does Betterhelp Work?