Talkspace Online Therapy Review

Treatment Options

Talkspace offers comprehensive online therapy options for individuals, families, and couples. You can get help for some of the most common behavioral and mental health issues, such as depression, relationship issues, anxiety & stress, parenting issues, chronic illness, eating disorders, anger management, childhood abuse, mood disorders, OCD, trauma & grief, substance abuse, family conflict, and more.

Besides individual and/or family-oriented online therapy for adults and teens (ages 13-17), Talkspace also offers:

• Psychiatry: Get matched with a prescriber in your state, and schedule live video sessions for everything from initial evaluation to ongoing prescription management. You'll get specialized psychiatric treatment from a licensed prescriber — all from the comfort of your home.
• Couples Therapy: Relationship-centered therapy to help you and your partner identify any issues, rediscover strengths, gain insight into dysfunctional dynamics, practice conflict-resolution strategies, and restore trust. 

Contact Methods

Once you've signed up for Talkspace and been paired with a therapist, you can contact him or her at any time through Talkspace's messaging platform, which is the core of its business. This gives users easy access to assistance when they need it while also giving the distance that some of them need in order to feel comfortable opening up to a therapist. Therapists typically respond to messages once or twice per day.

If you need to speak with your therapist more frequently or if you prefer a more personal connection, you can schedule a video or telephone call with the therapist at a time that's convenient for both of you. This kind of individualized attention is something that only the best online therapy platforms offer. You might not plan to speak to your therapist outside of the messaging platform, but if a pressing concern arises, it's nice to have the option.

Cost

Talkspace's primary plan includes free unlimited messaging with your therapist for $65 per week. Its Premium plan offers unlimited messaging plus one free live session per month for $79/week. For $99 per month, you get unlimited messaging plus four live sessions per month. All packages are billed monthly, but you can cancel your subscription at any time if you need to. If you'd like to have a live therapy session beyond what your package offers, it's $65 per 30-minute session. Talkspace offers couples therapy as well for $99 per week or $89 per week if you pay for three months in advance.

These costs are not unreasonable for online therapy, and cheaper than what you'll pay for assistance from many in-person therapists. Talkspace is unique in offering a gift card option, so family and friends can help you cover the costs of your therapy if you're unable to do so on your own.

Therapist Qualifications

All of Talkspace's therapists are licensed and vetted by Talkspace. They also have over 3,000 hours of clinical experience so you can feel confident that you're dealing with someone that knows what they're doing. Talkspace has over 5,000 therapists on its payroll, including many who have extensive experience working with teens, members of the LGBT community, and veterans, among other things.

Once you sign up for Talkspace, one of its matching therapists will help you find the therapist that can best assist you. Unlike some online therapy platforms that just pair you with any available therapist, Talkspace ensures that you are matched with the right therapist that fits the needs you've outlined in your personal assessment. If for any reason you're unhappy with your therapist, you can contact Talkspace and it will assign you a new one at no additional charge.

Ease of Use

The Talkspace platform is clean and intuitive, so you can focus on talking with your therapist instead of figuring out how to navigate through the app. Creating your account only takes a few moments. Then, you have a short chat with a match therapist to find the therapist that's right for you. Next, choose your payment plan and wait for your match. Once you're connected with a therapist, you can begin chatting right away.

The messaging platform works much like a modern texting or social media messaging platform and anyone who knows their way around a smartphone shouldn't have any trouble figuring out the video call. The messaging platform also enables you to upload media to share with your therapist, which isn't something that most other online therapy platforms allow.