Therapy Apps
Great news for Baby Boomers. They’ve got a phone app that tells you if your depressed or not.
Actually, there are dozens of these online therapy outfits. Like everything in the good old U.S.A. there’s a crapload of choices out there.
Finding a living-breathing-in-person Therapist is tough. The best one’s are booked up for months. If I had a career to do over again, I’d become a Therapist. Who could’ve figured they’d be in such high demand?
Now you simply download your Therapist.
And we need help! We’re old. We’re no longer happy druggie swinging sixties kids anymore. We’re beat up old farts in need of Therapy!
Therapy is booming for Boomers.
Old people like me. Plenty of us get depressed. I do. And say you’re alone with nobody in your life but the sea gull that shows up for a cracker. Say you find yourself talking to the sea gull. That works for a while. Until you wake up one morning and you say to yourself, “I’m a old fart all alone and I’m talking to a sea gull….I think I need help.”
Well, good luck finding a therapist. And paying them what they want. Do I have money to pay a Therapist? I don’t have money to pay my taxes…or even the garbage bill if I had one.
But now we have these Therapy Apps. Actually they’ve been around for a while. Years. They’ve been with us a long time. I’m behind the 8 ball on this shit. But check it out.
Here’s the lowdown from Top10. com:
Online therapy is a term used to describe mental health counseling that you can receive from the comfort of your own home in front of your PC or on your smartphone through a therapy app.
Often referred to as “e-therapy” or “internet therapy,” online therapy isn’t meant for people who are in the midst of a mental health emergency or who need urgent medical care. Instead, it’s a way for people to get easy, convenient, and reliable counseling that tends to be much cheaper than in-person therapy. In addition, it can also be a real help for people who have mobility issues or simply live too far away from a licensed therapist for it to be convenient.
The best counseling apps and therapy platforms offer secure and confidential access to licensed therapists who offer many types of support for everything from depression and anxiety to marital issues.
How Does Online Therapy Work?
Most online therapy companies offer 3 main types of counseling: real-time chat, video chat, and phone chat.
Email and text message counseling is popular with people who want to be able to think out their questions and write them out before asking. These tend to not be free-flowing conversations like with phone or video chats, but being able to write out what you want to say can be preferable. Typically these chats are done through your personal email to a special, secure email provided through the site, which can help safeguard your anonymity.
Video chat will require a reliable internet connection and will allow you to speak with a counselor face-to-face, if not in the same room. It’s intimate, personal, and allows you to establish a rapport that can be more difficult with the written word.
Real time chat puts you into a secure line and allows you to chat back and forth with a counselor in real time. Think of it like having your own personal, private chat room with a counselor who’s there to listen to what ails you.
When you sign up for an online therapy service, you’ll typically be asked to take a short quiz to determine which sorts of issues you’re dealing with, which can be used to help the service match you with a counselor who may specialize in your concerns. If you’re seeking out online counseling for your child, the quiz will ask you a lot of questions about what you think the child needs help with, before sending the child an invitation on your behalf.
How Much Does it Cost?
The prices vary by company, but typically online therapy services charge a monthly fee to use the service, and don’t charge by minute or hour or text. For instance, BetterHelp, one of the bigger names in the industry, charges a flat fee of between $40-$70 per week, including all messaging, chats, phone, and video sessions. Many platforms offer a free counseling app that you can download if you prefer to communicate via your smartphone or tablet rather than over your computer.
These memberships tend to be quite flexible, and allow you to quit at any time.
Most online counseling is not covered by insurance, so while it’s cheaper than in-person therapists, you will typically have to pay out of pocket.
How to Choose the Right Online Therapy App
Before you sign up for an online therapy service, do a little research. Take a look at how the company screens its counselors and if their certification checks out. You can also look at online testimonials by customers to get an idea about the quality of service.
You’ll want to decide which types of counseling you want—chat, video, or email—and if they’re available through the service. If you’re interested in using the service on your smartphone, see if the company has an app and if you’re allowed to have sessions with your counselor by chat on your phone. The best apps for therapy include secure and private portals where you can chat, email, and video conference directly with your therapist.
In addition, check what type of security they provide and if your chats will be encrypted, and if you’ll have the ability to remain anonymous to your counselor.
Look at the price also, and see if it fits your budget. In addition, see if you can quit the membership at any time, or if its binding.
So there you have it!
Go to Top10.com and get their recommendation on the best of these Therapy Apps. I’m not sticking my neck out because…well, because I’m the gloomy boomer and I’ve got my own opinion of Therapists and Psychiatrists. I figure most of them are QUACKS. Or if they’re not, they’re just taking your money and giving you advice you already know. You just don’t know you know it!
Anyway, you do what you want, but don’t tell them I sent you. IF you want my advice, pick up a HOBBY like gardening or novel writing or golf. Be grateful you’re still alive. Practice gratitude! Live in the moment. Groove on the positive vibes. And do good.
Check out my novel LOG OF THE YARDBIRD!
2 thoughts on “Therapy Apps”
This is bullshit! There’s no reason in the world for this type of therapy to not be covered. I’m going to get a hold of the California State Insurance Commissioner and I’d love to see others do it too.
Insurance.ca.gov 800/927-4357
Bravo!