So Contact Talkspace… constantly very sceptical of individuals who are either really really professional or extremely extremely against online psychological healthcare.|Then, I’m constantly very sceptical of individuals who are either extremely extremely pro or extremely extremely versus online psychological health care.} It’s a case of asking the ideal concerns.”|If it’s rolled out simply to conserve cash and there aren’t important questions being asked about these services, that’s not good. Then, I’m always really sceptical of individuals who are either extremely very pro or really very against online psychological health care.}
Well, if the future of psychological healthcare is everything about IMs, FaceTime and ‘OMG, which neuroses R U?’ quizzes, I decided I ‘d find out what that brave new world would resemble. I registered for four extremely various online psychological health services– ranging in cost from free to , 100 a month– and ran my stress and anxieties through them all, all at once, for a week. Here’s what I discovered.
Does BetterHelp use licensed therapists? Contact Talkspace
What I’m doing here is evaluating my experience of using each psychological health service, rather than its effectiveness – because even the most wizard-like therapist isn’t going to ‘cure’ you in just one week. I’m merely comparing each service to the experience of sitting in a space and blarting on about yourself to a therapist. Nod if you’re with me. Okay, cool – let’s psychological health!
BBC
How does it work?
As seen on FB (by me, anyhow), US company is the business behemoth of the e-counselling game. They declare to have 500 certified counsellors working for them, each with a minimum of 3 years of experience.
After completing a survey to ascertain what specific flavour of psychological you are, you’re paired with a counsellor, who you can mercilessly swap for a different one at any time. (I got Dr. Laura Dabney, from Virginia). You then begin an instantaneous messaged treatment session that both you and your counsellor can drop in and out of, and which could, in theory, go on and on up until among you ultimately died.
What does it cost?
You get a complimentary seven-day trial – just like a complimentary Netflix or Amazon Prime trial, other than with way more concerns about what your youth resembled. After that, it costs from , 24.50 a week for unrestricted message-based counselling and one ‘complimentary’ phone session with your counsellor monthly. Yeah, I don’t get how it’s free either, but whatever.
How much is BetterHelp monthly?
If you discover the idea of baring your soul to a stranger a bit awks, filtering that through instant messaging might be handy. You will not get the exact same connection as with face-to-face counselling, however the semi-anonymity might make it easier to open up if you’ve been consuming two bottles of rum and dancing around in your dead nan’s bridal gown every night.
She initially determined the scale of my anxiety, what activates it– social scenarios, meeting people for the very first time– and then dived headlong into my fractious youth (separated moms and dads, stretched familial relationships, bullied in junior school). She was pretty nosey tbh, but then that’s her task, isn’t it?
Overall, the service is impressively slick. The discussion can be a little stop-starty sometimes, however it was actually a far smoother and more on-tap experience than I expected. I even got rapid reactions to messages over the weekend, which was unexpected.
Talkspace vs Betterhelp
The reality you can edit messages before sending them means you’re unlikely to blurt out something revealing and vulnerable in the heat of the minute. Profound minutes of realisation might be tough to come by if you can’t get a relaxed flow going.
Who do I think it might it benefit?
Anyone with a low-end psychological health concern who’s cool with getting counselled in a very internet-y, 2016-y method. If you’re living under the blackest, bleakest cloud imaginable and require severe attention (and potentially some medications), probably isn’t for you Contact Talkspace