So Talkspace Cigna… always extremely sceptical of people who are either very very pro or really very against online psychological healthcare.|Then, I’m constantly really sceptical of individuals who are either really very pro or very really against online psychological health care.} It’s a case of asking the best questions.”|If it’s rolled out just to save money and there aren’t critical questions being asked about these services, that’s not great. Then, I’m always really sceptical of individuals who are either very really pro or really really against online mental health care.}
I signed up for four very different online mental health services– varying in cost from free to , 100 a month– and ran my anxieties through them all, at the same time, for a week. Here’s what I found.
Does BetterHelp use licensed therapists? Talkspace Cigna
What I’m doing here is reviewing my experience of using each mental health service, instead of its effectiveness – because even the most wizard-like therapist isn’t going to ‘cure’ you in simply one week. I’m merely comparing each service to the experience of sitting in a room and blarting on about yourself to a therapist. Nod if you’re with me. Okay, cool – let’s mental health!
BBC
How does it work?
As seen on FB (by me, anyway), US business is the business leviathan of the e-counselling video game. They claim to have 500 licensed counsellors working for them, each with a minimum of three years of experience.
After filling in a questionnaire to ascertain what particular 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 kick off an instant messaged treatment session that both you and your counsellor can drop in and out of, and which could, in theory, continue up until one of you ultimately died.
What does it cost?
You get a free seven-day trial – similar to a complimentary Netflix or Amazon Prime trial, other than with method more concerns about what your childhood resembled. After that, it costs from , 24.50 a week for endless message-based counselling and one ‘totally free’ phone session with your counsellor per month. Yeah, I don’t get how it’s free either, but whatever.
How much is BetterHelp monthly?
If you discover the concept of baring your soul to a complete stranger a bit awks, filtering that through instant messaging might be practical. You won’t get the exact same connection just like face-to-face counselling, however the semi-anonymity might make it much easier to open up if you’ve been drinking 2 bottles of rum and dancing around in your dead nan’s wedding dress every night.
She initially determined the scale of my stress and anxiety, what activates it– social circumstances, fulfilling individuals for the very first time– and then dived headlong into my fractious youth (separated parents, strained familial relationships, bullied in junior school). She was quite nosey tbh, however then that’s her task, isn’t it?
Overall, the service is remarkably slick. The discussion can be a little stop-starty sometimes, but it was in fact a far smoother and more on-tap experience than I anticipated. I even got quick reactions to messages over the weekend, which was unexpected.
Talkspace vs Betterhelp
The reality you can modify messages before sending them implies you’re unlikely to blurt out something revealing and vulnerable in the heat of the moment. Profound moments of realisation might be tough to come by if you can’t get a relaxed flow going.
Who do I believe it might it be good for?
Anybody with a low-end psychological health problem who’s cool with getting counselled in an extremely internet-y, 2016-y way. If you’re living under the blackest, bleakest cloud you can possibly imagine and need major attention (and potentially some meds), probably isn’t for you Talkspace Cigna