BetterHelp Therapist Reviews

Pros

flexible schedule is available for all therapist

Cons

low pay per session compared to private practice

Pros

Fully remote, create your own schedule. Little to no paperwork, though this is also a con in some ways. Great if you only have very simple clients with no diagnosable mental illness or if you prefer more coaching-style “therapy.”

Cons

Very low pay- a third of what you would make per session in a regular practice, especially for fully-licensed clinicians. Questionable ethics- you don’t have access to your clients’ full information, so if there is an urgent issue or emergency, you have very little you can do about it. There are no diagnoses or treatment plans, so it’s more akin to consulting in that way, but is advertised as mental health treatment. Poor boundaries- clients are led to believe they can message back and forth all day, whenever they want, and if you don’t reply right away, they can give you a lower rating. The benefits of working from home are thus negated by the expectation that you be constantly available. Caseload- you will need to have a caseload of 45-50 individuals to make a livable income. No clinical supervision or peer consultation available.

Pros

Able to set own schedule

Cons

Compensation is terrible. Starts out at $30/hr but sessions are capped at 45 minutes so you have to have 7 sessions to get 5 hours of work. Apparently they give great benefits to their employees and seems this is where the bulk of the money goes (for example people getting generous Uber eats stipends but my first 7 sessions are paid at about $27/session). Unable to accept or decline every client and will automatically put people on our caseloads and then make us tell the client why they’re not a good fit when the client is made to believe that we are their therapist. No real support from Betterhelp itself. Claims it’s a tech platform but the tech aspect isn’t even that good. No place for decent documentation and most therapists have to pay for separate EHR platform to take adequate notes. Forum posts are heavily moderated. Spending too much money on advertising when there are not enough therapists to support the number of subscribers. I receive weekly emails stating there are 80-90 active subscribers looking for a therapist to have me turn on my availability which means they don’t have enough therapists to take these clients but Betterhelp continually advertises on social media and podcasts.

Pros

1. Convenient, easy-to-use platform. 2. Helpful reminders for scheduling. 3. Excellent psychoeducation materials to provide to clients. 4. Wide variety of experience, including opportunity to work with international clients.

Cons

1. The compensation schedule is much too low. Starts therapists at $30 per hour, with incentives to earn more if one keeps accepting new clients. One must have a 45 client caseload to generate income comparable to other practices. This makes it exhausting as a potential full-time job. 2, Scheduling feature is annoying because I must go out of client profile into my scheduling screen, then go back to client profile to schedule. Needs to be corrected to permit scheduling clients within my scheduling screen. Takes too much time and creates room for error. 3. Encourages therapist to take out-of-state clients but doesn't tell you which states are allowing that. Some state's standards were relaxed for pandemic but are gravitating back to pre-pandemic regulations. The therapist has to do the legwork to check this out in order to comply with licensure standards. BetterHelp doesn't care...it's not their license.

Pros

I love working with people all around the world! I get to make my own hours and work as little or as many as I want.

Cons

The pay is misleading. BH says you make $30/hour for the first 5 clients then go up $5 an hour every 5 clients, etc. However, they cap an hour at 45 minutes. So, you are actually making $22.50 an hour and you don't hit $30 an hour until you work 15 hours. Also, there are MANY no-shows, 6-8 per week on average. They pay therapists less than $8 on their 4th consecutive no-show. By the time I factor in no-shows, documenting, messaging people, and working 15 mins for free each session, I would make more working at WalMart. Pretty sad for someone who has 20 years of experience, a master's degree, and a license. I will be leaving Better Help after I discharge my last client.

Pros

Quick and easy to get started and easy to get a full case load as fast as you want.

Cons

Low pay, takes long to get responses to your questions from the support team, do not have full control of how you manage clients in that you cannot discharge a client if the tell you they are stopping services, you have to wait for the client to terminate services in the meantime you keep getting notices the client has not responded to you and you have to message them in order and you will keep getting notices for at least 30 days. This is a good set up if you are looking to make some extra income or part time, but I have not been able to make enough to do this full time due to the pay scale and inconsistency with clients.

Pros

Helpful staff, caseload good, use-friendly format

Cons

Pay needs to be increased at base level and beyond, staff at time could be more personalized

Pros

Receive plenty of clients VERY quickly. do not have to deal with insurance panels, begin working right away, make own schedule, generally able to choose which clients you want to take or not (not always the case), paid weekly, bonuses if you pursue a license in a state where therapists are needed, good experience if you are new to the field

Cons

Pay is very low and unable to make a decent living if you pursue FT, pay is by the hour but longest session you can bill for is 45 minutes so it isn't 1 client =1 hour of pay. Their pay scale leads to high burnout and probably low client satisfaction if therapist is taking on too many clients just to be paid a livable wage. The platform I am now working on pays OVER 3 times what BH pays. I still have some BH clients as I did not want to just leave them.

Pros

It’s easy to get started if you’re right out of school but there is little support when clients are in trouble.

Cons

Clients pay well over $320 a month and the therapist gets $22 a session. You will make more waiting tables with a masters degree. They withhold client information and you have to justify why you need phone numbers or address. It can be a liability to the therapist.