Last Updated on November 26, 2024 by It’s Complicated
Editorial note: Well folks, we have ourselves a therapy soap opera. Here’s to finding platforms that don’t just talk the talk but also walk the walk—one therapy session at a time.
It’s a crime that health tech solutions are prone to be dragged into the trap of commercialisation, but here we are. BetterHelp is among the frontrunners of online therapy. With over one million users and 11 years in business, has their expansion overridden the original intent to help?
BetterHelp is a household name, and it owes this to its hyper aggressive marketing campaigns. Leveraging podcasts, social media, and online advertisements has helped it gain vast numbers of users. However, a recent BetterHelp controversy has made its business practices questionable. Concerns about data privacy, therapist compensation, and bad user experience now surround the value of BetterHelp’s mental health care.
Read on for the the rise of BetterHelp, concerns surrounding it, and competitive alternatives for finding the right therapist online.
The rise of BetterHelp
Online therapy platforms like BetterHelp showed up at the perfect time. Just as the world started leaning into digital solutions, they didn’t waste any time standing out. They threw a huge amount of money into marketing. In fact, just in the first quarter of 2024, they spent a tidy $24.6 million on podcast ads, making them the top podcast advertiser in the U.S..
Their growth got another big boost in 2015 when Teladoc, a telehealth giant, acquired them. But here’s the thing: while their ads make it sound like they’ve cracked the code for online therapy, the actual user experience tells a different story.
Data privacy concerns
Among other controversies, data privacy became a primary concern for users. Trust in therapy and mental health has to be absolute, but BetterHelp couldn’t help themselves. The most pressing reports surrounding handling clients’ sensitive data came to light:
“When a person struggling with mental health issues reaches out for help, they do so in a moment of vulnerability and with an expectation that professional counselling services will protect their privacy”
“Instead, BetterHelp betrayed consumers’ most personal health information for profit. Let this proposed order be a stout reminder that the FTC will prioritise defending Americans’ sensitive data from illegal exploitation.”
- Samuel Levine, Director, FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection
In March 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned BetterHelp, Inc. to restrict them from sharing clients’ private information for the ill purposes of advertising. That led to a bad reputation, as the company’s successful marketing campaigns could have actually been based on very sensitive data about the mental health challenges of users.
Upon finding out about years of ill practices, the FTC banned BetterHelp from sharing customer data with third-party marketing agencies. Moreover, the FTC’s order required BetterHelp to pay $7.8 million to the clients as settlement charges.
“The controversy of BetterHelp has foremost to do with their handling of sensitive private data of clients and therapists using the platform Facebook, Snapchat and others.”
Therapist compensation and treatment
Another big concern with BetterHelp is the compensation of therapists. If you are a mental health patient, seeking help from a therapist who’s unhappy with their pay should be the last thing you try. There is a lot of online evidence where therapists outrageously condemn their pay and the platform practices to cut costs.
The pay on the platform starts at $30/hr, which is much below other online therapy alternatives. Moreover, this lesser hourly pay becomes deceiving when therapists identify that each session is about 30 or 45 minutes. This forces a therapist to take too many clients just to make a decent livelihood.
To make things worse, the platform also doesn’t support therapists fairly if the client is a no-show or cancels at the last minute. The platform compensates therapists with $10 while the company earns $25 from the client.
So, to put all of this in perspective, clients have to pay in advance to get shorter therapy sessions from unfairly compensated therapists. This often leads to poor customer satisfaction and increases the likelihood of negative reviews for the therapist. The final outcome is therapist burnout, and clients end up unhappy.
Today, the platform has 3.1/5 ratings on Glassdoor and 3.2/5 ratings on Indeed. This demonstrates the therapists’ high level of dissatisfaction and frustration. The same story is reflected elsewhere on the internet such as on reddit or quora.
BetterHelp in the UK and Germany
BetterHelp now operates in 200 countries and aggressively targets the UK and German markets. However, the platform’s previous controversial practices are still infamous among therapists and users.
Reports in outlets like the Financial Times and Daily Mail highlight issues, from poor client experiences to therapists criticising the platform’s support and recruitment processes. In one case, a UK patient quit therapy altogether after receiving advice so bad it undermined their trust in the process.
Criticism of the online therapy platform even made it to a report in the Financial Times, as the UK therapists criticised BetterHelp. Among existing concerns, UK therapists also highlighted the company’s suspicious recruitment process to ensure that therapists are safe counsellors. Moreover, they also reported poor support from the UK-based support staff once they started working.
Alternatives to BetterHelp
Platforms like Talkspace and Psychology Today have also carved out significant niches in the mental health space, but BetterHelp wins at stripping away the therapist’s personality entirely. You’re matched with someone behind the scenes without the chance to view profiles or choose based on personal fit. You think caring about the therapeutic alliance is how they make their millions?
Their business model might still be convenient, but it doesn’t pretend to be fair to therapists and it disguises an expensive subscription as a good deal for clients.
But hey. It’s Complicated is becoming among several key alternatives to BetterHelp. The platform understands the importance of a humane approach to mental health care through transparent and ethical practices. It’s Complicated is a platform that also takes good care of therapists with fair compensation so that they can focus on treating the client well.
Conclusion
Can we trust services like BetterHelp to match us with the right therapist to navigate our challenges? If we expect therapy platforms to act responsibly and prioritise genuine care, perhaps it’s time to look for a better alternative. That’s where It’s Complicated steps in. As a bootstrapped platform run by therapists, we say out with the old and in with the new—putting people, not profits, at the heart of mental health care.
It’s Complicated is a therapy platform that not only helps clients find their perfect therapist but also supports therapists in their craft of helping others. Featuring over 2,000 mental health professionals from 80+ countries, counselling is available in almost 100 languages, both online and in person. A GDPR-compliant video solution, encrypted messaging, and easy invoicing guarantee a private and seamless counselling experience for therapists and clients alike. If you are in a serious crisis and need urgent help, please use one of these resources instead.
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