While more research is needed, some studies are exploring how text-based therapy can better reach people in remote areas and provide anonymity in places where there may be a greater stigma to seeking mental health care, according to a review published in February 2021 in the journal JMIR Mental Health. We consulted with six mental health experts to gauge the efficacy of text therapy and compared the available options to help you find the best online texting therapy platform for your needs and budget. *According to our April 2022 survey of 1,000 online therapy users. Session Format Live chat, video, or audio sessions Cost $240 to $360 per month, depending on location, preferences, and therapist availability Accepts Insurance No BetterHelp is one of the few online therapy platforms that offers ongoing financial aid to eligible individuals. With discounts of up to 40 percent every month, it may be a good option for people who can’t afford therapy without financial assistance. It also includes a live chat session option and unlimited text messaging between sessions with your subscription.
BetterHelp Plan Options and Pricing
BetterHelp offers one monthly subscription option that includes one live chat, phone, or video session per week and unlimited asynchronous messaging with your therapist between sessions. Live sessions last between 30 and 45 minutes, depending on how much time you and your therapist need. The cost is $240 to $360 per month, but BetterHelp notes that the cost may be higher based on your therapist preferences and the availability of therapists who are licensed in your state. You will be billed every four weeks and can cancel at any time. If you cancel midmonth, you need to contact customer service to inquire about a refund, which BetterHelp issues on a case-by-case basis. During the sign-up process, BetterHelp will prompt you to check your eligibility for financial aid. The application is only visible to applicants during the sign-up process or by request during the course of your subscription. It asks a variety of questions to determine financial aid eligibility, including questions about your employment status and whether you’re a veteran or student. Once you submit your form, you will be notified within seconds of how much aid you will receive, if any. If you receive financial aid, it will apply to the next three months. BetterHelp will email you asking if you wish to reapply for financial aid seven days before your financial aid ends. When you reapply, you’ll be notified instantly if you’ll be receiving the same discount. If you don’t reapply, you’ll be charged full price for the next month.
How Quickly Do BetterHelp Therapists Respond to Messages?
BetterHelp does not guarantee how often its therapists will respond to messages. According to our April 2022 survey of 162 BetterHelp users, 50 percent received text messages from their therapist within a day, 17 percent received responses within a few days, and 8 percent reported that it regularly took more than one week to get responses to their messages. Session Format Live video, audio, or chat sessions Cost $316 to $556 per month, depending on your plan, location, preferences, and therapist availability Accepts Insurance Yes Talkspace is one of the few online therapy platforms that accepts insurance. Coverage varies by plan, so call your insurance provider to confirm your coverage and what you’re expected to pay. You can also check the Talkspace insurance page to see if your insurance carrier is listed. Talkspace offers a messaging therapy plan that allows you to send an unlimited number of text, audio, or video messages to your therapist. This plan does not include live chat therapy.
Talkspace Plan Options and Pricing
Talkspace is not upfront about the cost of its plans. The Talkspace Help Center mentions outdated prices, and we had to reach out to the company for accurate information. Customer service agents gave us the following prices and noted that prices could be higher depending on your location and the availability of therapists who are licensed in your state and meet your preferences.
Messaging therapy is $316 per month. It does not include live sessions, but you can send asynchronous video, audio, or text messages to your therapist at any time.Video therapy is $436 per month, including four 30-minute live chat, audio, or video therapy sessions. This plan does not include unlimited messaging.Video and messaging therapy is $556 per month. It includes four 30-minute live chat, audio, or video therapy sessions, and you can send asynchronous video, audio, or text messages to your therapist at any time
How Quickly Do Talkspace Therapists Respond to Messages?
A Talkspace blog post states that its therapists have set schedules at least five days per week for responding to clients. According to our survey of 178 Talkspace users, 48 percent received text messages from their therapist within a day, 14 percent received responses within a few days, 15 percent received responses within a week, and 23 percent reported that it regularly took more than one week for a response. Session Format Live chat, video, or audio sessions with some plans Cost $200 to $440 per month Accepts Insurance No Online-Therapy.com is the most affordable text therapy platform on our list. For $200 per month, you can access an online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) program and unlimited asynchronous messaging to a licensed therapist in your state. Your therapist will respond daily to any of your work in the CBT program, which includes worksheets on topics like identifying your problems, your long-term goals, your unhealthy behaviors, and how to challenge negative, unhealthy emotions. Online-Therapy.com also offers a 20 percent discount on your first month.
Online-Therapy.com Plan Options and Pricing
Online-Therapy.com offers three plans:
Therapy program and unlimited messaging is $200 per month. The program includes videos, worksheets, and a journal to help you identify, challenge and overcome your problems. Therapists respond to messages and completed worksheets Monday through Friday. You can switch therapists at any time. This program does not include live sessions.Therapy program, unlimited messaging, and four live sessions is $320 per month. This package includes videos; worksheets; a journal to help you identify, challenge, and overcome your problems; and one live 45-minute video, audio, or chat therapy session per week. Therapists respond to messages and completed worksheets Monday through Friday, and you can switch therapists at any time.Therapy program, unlimited messaging, eight live sessions, and express replies is $440 per month. This option includes videos; worksheets; a journal to help you identify, challenge and overcome your problems; and two 45-minute video, audio, or text therapy sessions per week. Therapists respond to messages and completed worksheets Monday through Friday, and you can switch therapists at any time. According to an Online-Therapy.com customer service representative, express replies mean that your therapist will receive your message right away, but they cautioned that therapists may be in sessions or responding to worksheets, so replies may not be as fast as you prefer.
How Quickly Do Online-Therapy.com Therapists Respond to Messages?
Online-Therapy.com states that therapists take less than 24 hours to provide feedback on CBT worksheets, but it doesn’t state how long it takes for therapists to respond to text messages. According to our April 2022 survey of 1,000 online therapy users, 30 percent of Online-Therapy.com users received therapist responses within a day, 15 percent received responses within a few days, 41 percent received responses within a week, and 14 percent reported that their therapists regularly took more than a week to respond to messages. Session Format Live chat, video, or audio sessions Cost $227.96 to $359.96 per month Accepts Insurance No Unlike Talkspace, BetterHelp, and Online-Therapy.com, Calmerry offers a 24/7 chat line to provide answers to any questions about your online therapy subscription. Reviews on Trustpilot mention positive experiences with agents who responded to requests and issues in a timely manner. For chat therapy, Calmerry offers three plans that all include unlimited messaging with your therapist. With a Calmerry subscription, you have access to a virtual therapy room where you can leave text or audio messages for your therapist at any time. Your therapist will then respond to any messages Monday through Friday.
Calmerry Plan Options and Pricing
Calmerry offers three plans:
Unlimited messaging is $227.96 per month. You can send asynchronous audio or text messages to your therapist at any time, and therapists respond Monday through Friday. The plan includes a chatbot reflection and mood-tracking tool.Unlimited messaging and one live session is $297.96 per month for one 30-minute live video session per month, in addition to all of the features of the unlimited messaging plan.Unlimited messaging and four live sessions is $359.96 per month for four 30-minute live video sessions per month, plus all of the features of the unlimited messaging plan.
How Quickly Do Calmerry Therapists Respond to Messages?
Session Format Live chat, video, and audio sessions Cost $240 to $360 per month, depending on location, preferences, and therapist availability Accepts Insurance No ReGain is a BetterHelp specialty site that offers relationship advice for individuals and couples. Your subscription includes four 30- to 45-minute live sessions per week, which you can conduct using live chat messaging with a therapist. It also includes unlimited messaging, which allows you to send asynchronous video, audio, or text messages to your therapist at any time. For couples, both you and your partner will share a chat room, so all messages will be visible to you, your partner, and your therapist.
ReGain Plan Options and Pricing
ReGain offers monthly subscriptions. The prices range from $240 to $360, depending on your location and the availability of licensed therapists in your state who meet your preferences. It bills every four weeks, and you can cancel at any time. Because ReGain is a specialty site of BetterHelp, it offers the same financial aid program. If eligible, you can receive up to 40 percent off your subscription.
How Quickly Do ReGain Therapists Respond to Messages?
“I frequently advise my clients not to have tough or emotionally charged conversations with their loved ones over text,” says Tara McGrath, a licensed marriage and family therapist practicing in San Diego. “The same advice would apply to the sometimes difficult conversations that are often a part of therapy. The intimate and powerful relationship between client and therapist just does not work over text exclusively.” Natasha Deen, a licensed clinical professional counselor in private practice in Silver Spring, Maryland, expands on the disadvantages of text therapy, including how it invites opportunities for misunderstanding and miscommunication. “There is a lack of context over text. We lose facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, affect, speech patterns, and many other verbal and nonverbals that are used by therapists to gather a range of information and assess situations,” Deen says. “This includes inconsistencies between content and tone, symptoms, diagnoses, the seriousness of the issue, and more.” She adds that texting can also be more time-consuming than video or audio therapy. Lauren Hornbeck, a licensed professional counselor in private practice in Pueblo West, Colorado, does not recommend text therapy for similar reasons as Deen but adds that a preference for text therapy may involve a physical, mental, or relational barrier to therapy. “Text therapy has a distancing factor that does not allow an authentic psychotherapy experience,” she says. “I would recommend that a person challenges themselves to look at their underlying resistance to vulnerability. There is likely something that is mentally or emotionally preventing that person from being seen authentically and avoiding vulnerability.” Steven Reidbord, MD, a psychiatrist in private practice in San Francisco, does not consider text messaging to be a form of psychotherapy, adding that while texting may provide you some degree of emotional support, so could talking to a friend without mental health training. “The evidence for text therapy’s effectiveness for actual emotional disorders is scant,” Dr. Reidbord says. Some of the experts we spoke to had more positive opinions on text therapy. Steve Carleton, LCSW, the executive clinical director of Gallus Detox in Denver, says that the efficacy of text therapy depends on the patient, their condition, and the approach of the therapist, noting that it allows for increased flexibility and a sense of comfort for those who prefer to express themselves through writing or who struggle with social anxiety. “It is crucial to prioritize what will be most effective for the individual in reaching their therapy goals, rather than sticking with a particular mode of communication just because it may be convenient or familiar. Ultimately, it is up to the therapist and patient to determine what form of therapy will work best for them,” Carleton says. According to Kara Nassour, a licensed professional counselor in Austin, Texas, “Text therapy can be effective, especially for people who are deaf or have difficulty communicating in real time.” Nassour adds that text-based therapy options can help more people with disabilities access healthcare.
Types of Text Therapy the Platform Offers Options include synchronous live chat sessions and asynchronous messaging, which is similar to sending an email or text message. Both occur in private online chat rooms, not via SMS.How You Prefer to Message Your Therapist Some platforms offer the option to send video, audio, or text messages to your therapist. Video and audio messages will be quicker to send than texts, but you need to check that the platform supports these options.How Quickly You Expect Your Therapist to Respond Therapist response rates vary when it comes to asynchronous messaging. If you want real-time responses, look for subscriptions that include synchronous messaging or live chat sessions.Whether It Will Be Effective for Your Needs According to the guidelines for telepsychology published by the American Psychological Association (APA), therapists should perform an initial assessment with clients to determine whether it’s the appropriate approach. Most of the mental health experts we spoke to advised its use only as a complementary method to supplement live audio, video, or in-person sessions.If You Also Want Video or Audio Therapy Sessions Some platforms also offer live audio or video sessions. If these are important to you, ensure that they are included in your membership and check to see how many sessions you get per month.
Engaged in ongoing independent researchMystery shopped each of the brandsContacted the brands’ customer service teams to ask questions and gauge responsivenessConsulted six leading psychologists and psychiatristsBecame customers of online therapy providers ourselvesReviewed academic research about the efficacy of online therapy versus in-person therapyRead hundreds of verified customer reviews from trusted third parties such as the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Trustpilot
For weekly live chat therapy sessions, Talkspace could be a good option for insurance users, and BetterHelp would suit those who need financial aid. If you want the benefit of 24/7 customer service, Calmerry is the only platform that offers an always-on chat line. For those interested in text-based relationship advice, ReGain offers weekly live chat sessions with unlimited messaging between appointments for both partners. You can also send a text message to the Crisis Text Line at 741741. A crisis counselor will respond via text to help you stay calm and make sure you’re safe. Although crisis counselors are trained volunteers, not professionals, they can provide you with a referral if you’re interested in seeking professional help. They may also ask emergency services to perform a wellness check if they believe you’re in immediate danger to yourself or others.
