So The Read Talkspace… always very sceptical of people who are either very extremely professional or really really against online mental health care.|Then, I’m constantly extremely sceptical of individuals who are either really extremely pro or really extremely against online psychological health care.} It’s a case of asking the right questions.”|If it’s rolled out just to conserve cash and there aren’t crucial questions being asked about these services, that’s not good. Then, I’m constantly extremely sceptical of individuals who are either very extremely pro or really extremely versus online psychological health care.}
Well, if the future of mental health care is all about IMs, FaceTime and ‘OMG, which neuroses R U?’ tests, I chose I ‘d find out what that brave brand-new world would be like. I signed up for four really different online mental health services– varying in expense from totally free to , 100 a month– and ran my stress and anxieties through them all, simultaneously, for a week. Here’s what I found.
Does BetterHelp use licensed therapists? The Read Talkspace
What I’m doing here is examining my experience of using each psychological health service, instead of its effectiveness – since even the most wizard-like therapist isn’t going to ‘cure’ you in simply one week. I’m just comparing each service to the experience of sitting in a space and blarting on about yourself to a therapist. If you’re with me, nod. Okay, cool – let’s mental health!
BBC
How does it work?
As seen on FB (by me, anyway), US company is the business leviathan of the e-counselling video game. They claim to have 500 licensed counsellors working for them, each with at least 3 years of experience.
After filling in a survey to determine what specific flavour of mental you are, you’re coupled with a counsellor, who you can mercilessly swap for a various one at any time. (I got Dr. Laura Dabney, from Virginia). You then start an instant messaged therapy session that both you and your counsellor can drop in and out of, and which could, in theory, go on and on until one of you eventually died.
What does it cost?
You get a free seven-day trial – just like a totally free Netflix or Amazon Prime trial, except with method more questions about what your youth resembled. After that, it costs from , 24.50 a week for unrestricted message-based counselling and one ‘totally free’ phone session with your counsellor monthly. Yeah, I do not get how it’s complimentary either, however whatever.
How much is BetterHelp monthly?
If you discover the concept of baring your soul to a stranger a bit awks, filtering that through instant messaging might be useful. You won’t get the very same connection similar to 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 first established the scale of my anxiety, what triggers it– social circumstances, satisfying people for the first time– and then dived headlong into my fractious youth (divorced moms and dads, stretched familial relationships, bullied in junior school). She was quite nosey tbh, however then that’s her task, isn’t it?
In general, the service is impressively slick. The conversation can be a little stop-starty sometimes, however it was in fact a far smoother and more on-tap experience than I expected. I even got speedy responses to messages over the weekend, which was unforeseen.
Talkspace vs Betterhelp
The fact you can edit messages prior to sending them means you’re unlikely to blurt out something revealing and vulnerable in the heat of the moment. Profound moments of realisation may be hard to come by if you can’t get an unwinded circulation going.
Who do I believe it might it be good for?
Anybody with a low-end psychological health issue who’s cool with getting counselled in an extremely internet-y, 2016-y way. If you’re living under the blackest, bleakest cloud imaginable and need serious attention (and possibly some meds), most likely isn’t for you The Read Talkspace