Top online therapy tools and platforms for mental health professionals

Better Help

With access to 14,000 professional, credentialed therapists who can help with issues including stress, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, grief, and interpersonal relationships, BetterHelp has been utilized by almost 700,000 customers since its launch in 2013.

The BetterHelp platform is simple to use. Users register and answer a brief questionnaire about their background and the problems they want to solve. A counselor’s preferences, such as preferred gender or area of expertise, can also be noted. With the help of BetterHelp, the client can speak with a counselor via live chat, video chat, or phone call.

Sesame

As a “superstore for exceptional doctors and experts,” Sesame advertises that it offers a database of treatment alternatives at a reduced cost by paying healthcare professionals directly. From mental health and prescriptions to dentists and urgent care, Sesame can assist you in finding a wide variety of services in your neighborhood. You may search for care on their website in four different ways: by area, by kind of care, by speciality, or by symptom, so you shouldn’t have any trouble locating the mental health options that are right for you.

TalkSpace

Talkspace, a market-leading supplier of virtual behavioral health services, provides simple, cost-effective access to a network of fully licensed and skilled professionals. Through online counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatry, they give members access to qualified mental health professionals across a broad and expanding range of services. Aetna, Cigna, Premera, and other large health plans and employee assistance programs (collectively, “health plan clients”) are among the large enterprises that use the platform.

It also serves a business-to-consumer (“B2C”) channel, which is made up of individual subscribers to the platform, and a business-to-business (“B2B”) channel, which is made up of large health plans and employee assistance programs.

7cups

Their bridge technology connects real people to real listeners in one-on-one chat in an anonymous and safe manner.

Through our network, anyone may instantly get in touch with a skilled, understanding listener to discuss anything is on their mind. There are hundreds of listeners, all with different backgrounds and experiences.On 7 Cups, people connect with listeners for a variety of reasons, from profound existential questions to commonplace, everyday occurrences. A 7 Cups listener doesn’t criticize or try to solve problems or give advice, unlike talking to relatives or friends.

Alma

Alma offers a user-friendly online directory where you may search and filter based on the criteria that matter the most. An optional, one-on-one matching process that will provide you with recommendations for certain therapists. In some states, their diversified network of doctors is willing to accept new patients for in-person or online care.

Amwell

Amwell is a strong telehealth platform with a service portfolio that includes mental and behavioral healthcare.

Through Amwell’s website or mobile app, users can book an appointment or have on-demand access to a therapist. Doctoral-level psychologists, master’s-level therapists, and social workers are among the mental health specialists on Amwell’s staff who are certified and trained to deliver interventions and therapy via telehealth.

Amwell charges consumers per visit, not on a subscription basis, in contrast to the other services on our list. As a result, it might be a better option for people looking for temporary counseling or fewer sessions per billing cycle. Customers of Amwell pay a flat fee, but they can also save money by using a variety of popular insurance plans. Amwell also offers child and adolescent treatment for those ages 10 to 17, in addition to adult counseling.

MDLive

Providing care for both physical and emotional health, MDLive is a telehealth service. Whether talk therapy alone is sufficient for you or prescription medication is required, you can obtain all the treatment you need from their behavioral health network, which includes both licensed therapists and psychiatrists.

Users only need to sign up for a free account with MDLive to begin therapy. From there, they can look through the profiles of the therapists that are on hand and select the one who feels like the best fit. As opposed to waiting weeks for an appointment with an in-person therapist, the majority of patients can get one within a few days. MDLive’s website and mobile app both offer phone and video chat options for sessions.

The cost of an MDLive therapy session is a set amount of $108 per visit; however, the program accepts a number of significant health insurance plans, so your copay may be lower depending on your coverage.

Pride Counseling

People who belong to particular underrepresented groups may seek counseling that is tailored especially for them, for both the problems that individually impact them and those that they face as members of a minority group. The LGBTQ community has Pride Counseling available to them.

This online mental health service strives to offer accessible, acceptable treatment to all people. Anxiety, depression, relationships, family, identity, and other concerns can all be addressed by the network of licensed professional counselors, licensed clinical social workers, and marriage and family therapists that Pride Counseling has access to.

Similar to other online therapy programs, Pride Counseling matches clients with counselors after they sign up and answer a questionnaire. The cost per week is determined by geography, customer choices, and therapist availability. It is a subscription-based service. Users have access to video chat, phone calls, live chat, and email messages to engage with their counselors. The Pride Counseling app and desktop website are both available.

Circles

You can meet with a therapist and a group of others that can connect to your situation since they’re experiencing a similar issue at Circles.

Irad Eichler and Dan Landa started “7 Chairs” in 2018, but in 2020 they renamed it to “Circles.” However, its goal has mostly stayed the same: to provide individuals with emotional support groups from the comfort of their homes for any mental health challenges they may be facing, including grieving, relationship or parental difficulties, stress, despair, or worry.

And on this front, the business differs from many of the others we studied since it provides a unique type of psychotherapy for a lot less money than you would pay for a typical in-office treatment session.

Teen Counseling

TeenCounseling is an online service that allows teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 to speak with a qualified therapist. Through a computer, tablet, or smartphone, TeenCounseling.com offers professional treatment discreet, affordable, and easily accessible. Every teen can gain from having a qualified therapist nearby to talk about problems like coping mechanisms, anxiety, stress, self-esteem, depression, bullying, anger, eating disorders, or any other mental difficulties.