Here at BestOnlineTherapy.com, we research, review, compare and analyze online therapy options and plans to help you find the best online therapy site in 2022. Our aim? To help you understand what online counseling entails, what are the different methodologies, which are the largest and best-known online therapy platforms, and how to decide which is the best online therapy for you (tip: the one that keeps you safe and annonymous if you wish to, while getting an excellent service, with a reasonably good price).
Counseling is already widely accepted, and seen as something almost every individual could benefit from, but virtual therapy is still a relatively new trend in spite of its tremendous growth of online therapy platforms, and telemedicine in general, over the past 2 years.
Above , you can find a basic comparison of our choice of the best online therapy platforms – BetterHelp, TalkSpace and Amwell. These are the 3 largest online therapy sites in the world today who boast the highest number of registered customers and most diverse treatment options, but that does not go to say that a prospective customer in the online therapy space should stick with these options.
View our head to head of the top 2 best rated therapy sites globally here: Betterhelp vs TalkSpace.
As our name suggests – Best Online Therapy is a website dedicated to covering the online therapy field as a whole, and we intend to research every online therapy site which is available to American clients. Our team of experts spend countless hours trying to find the best possible virtual counseling services and plans out there, and our reviews should reflect that in a holistic way.
We fully understand the great responsibility we take by covering mental health related topics 🙏, and so we work as hard as we can not only to present you with the most options to choose from 🙏, but make sure you get accurate information to pick the right online therapy platform for you 🙏. We always remember that while price might be a major factor, safety and proper care are just as important.
If you want to better understand how we review and rate each of these therapy service providers, you can do so by reading further down this page or by visiting our page showing all the online therapy reviews we have on our site.
Keep in mind, just because a company is smaller, or has a lower overall rating, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad choice – some of these sites just specialize in very specific services. So, it might not be the best overall, but still be the right pick for you.
Our aim is to provide a fair comparison and overview of the online therapy field. We take great care in writing our reviews – there are many options out there, but of course not all of them are good. With online therapy being such a new field, it can be hard to find the best counseling websites, or even just the ones who meet your specific needs and expectations.
Here, you will only find regulated, reputable and hipaa compliant sites. We employ a team of experts who research, review and compare these online therapy sites on a regular basis. Not only do we keep in direct touch with these companies, but we also conduct surprise anonymous inspections, and never recommend a service we haven’t actually used ourselves first.
Our goal is to constantly tweak and update the information presented here, so you can always be sure you get the full list of best online therapy sites. We base our ratings not only on our own independent inspections, but also from information we gather online, as well as feedback we get directly from our readers.
We only recommend platforms with a strong public presence and proven track record. All sites are licensed and HIPAA compliant.
We compare the price of every product out there, and make it easy for you to find the most affordable ones.
Our own personal experiences with each site matter a lot - but nothing matters more than the feedback we get from our readers.
All sites featured here are licensed and regulated in the U.S. They all follow the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).
We review and compare each platform's software and mobile app to make sure you can get the most out of it.
Our reviews explain exactly what services are available on each site, what's the level of therapists and what fields they specialize in.
While there’s no doubt virtually anyone can benefit from counseling, online therapy is still quite different from your traditional face to face session with a psychologist. It is much less formal and not as committal – which makes it easier to start and gives the patient more control over the way it is conducted.
Numerous studies show online therapy can be just as effective as face to face sessions, provided you are aware of the limitations the medium has and manage your expectations correctly. It can be a powerful tool if your plan is to get help with managing day to day life and find yourself needing support while dealing with negative patterns.
The most effective form of online therapy is CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), which really benefits from the way virtual therapy is designed. Being able to be in constant communication with your counselor can really help with mitigating the effect negative thoughts and symptoms have on your mental health.
For that reason, online counseling is usually recommended for dealing with symptoms of mental issues such as depression, anxiety or stress. It is equally effective in dealing with eating or sleeping disorders, or other behavioral issues such as OCD or ADHD. So for example, someone who’s experienced trauma in their past can find relief through an online app and get constant support while dealing with their daily struggles of healing.
That said, you can’t go into online therapy expecting it will solve all your underlying issues and conflicts.
With the PTSD example – online counseling can help you stabilize your condition or help with specific symptoms, but it’s not the ideal way to process past events and move forward. At some point, once you feel ready and strong enough, you’ll have to consider diving a bit deeper by combining app-based CBT treatments with some form of psychodynamic therapy or even psychoanalysis.
Please note – for that reason, online therapy is also not recommended for people who are dealing with severe mental health issues or facing an immediate emergency situation. In such cases, you should see a psychiatrist in person as soon as possible. Once you have been diagnosed and your condition becomes a bit more stable – you can begin getting help online.
Many online therapy sites also offer psychiatric treatment and medical prescriptions. A site such as Brightside offers just that – and can be a great place to start if you feel CBT alone won’t do the trick for you. If you want to combine online and live therapy, you can check out our Sondermind review or this article on how to find the best counseling near you.
Same as finding a psychologist for a live session, booking a remote session with a therapist is never a simple decision. Even once you have read our reviews and made up your mind as to which site is the best choice for your needs, still you must understand this is just the beginning of the process.
Successful online therapy is just like any counseling service you do face to face – it requires choosing the right therapist. Personal chemistry is obviously something you can’t predict – so if it doesn’t work out the first time, don’t despair! There are a lot of top rated, licensed therapists on all the sites we review, and surely there’s one out there who can help you.
We of course make every possible effort to make the decision easier for you, and increase your chances of finding the right “match” as soon as possible. To maximize your chances of doing so, we have prepared a few easy steps that can help you figure out your priorities and make sure you don’t waste valuable money, time and effort.
The first step for a successful treatment is identifying and setting up realistic goals. If you are simply interested in self growth and someone to talk to, then you’re more likely to prefer the top rated, popular online counseling services featured above.
If, however, you need help with something more specific, then some of the smaller sites might be a better fit. There are excellent sites out there that focus on treating various common issues many of us deal with – such as depression and anxiety, PTSD or addiction.
There are also sites who feature more therapists who specialize in different types of therapy – be it private sessions, marriage counseling, relationship therapy, counseling for teens or even faith focused therapy.
The Best place to start is our online therapy reviews page – where we dive deeper and compare all platforms. Over there you’ll be able to directly compare between all the best online therapy sites and see which ones suit you the most based on multiple criteria such as price, size, software quality, customer support, user reviews and more.
If you already read a bunch of reviews but still not sure where to start, here are a few things to keep in mind. First, you can always prioritize the sites which offer a free trial. Then, some sites also lets you pick your own therapist, or even view their profiles on the site and read reviews left there by previous clients – that can be a very useful tool that can make it easier for you to make up your mind.
Online therapy is much more affordable compared to live sessions with a psychologist or a psychiatrist. But still, prices vary between different sites and therapists. We all want the best possible treatment when it comes to our health, but we also can’t pretend costs are never an issue.
All of the sites we review are HIPAA compliant – and some accept Medicaid, Medicare and other forms of insurance. Read our guide on online therapy with insurance for more information.
If your insurance doesn’t cover this type of service, or you don’t have one, you might want to consider choosing one of the more affordable online therapy sites instead.
These sites offer great value, and you are still very likely to find someone there who can help you. If you prefer to first try something low cost or absolutely free, we also recommend a few of these in the page linked above.
Online therapy has proven to be extremely effective in dealing with a large variety of mental health issues. All major platforms offer a wide array of services – so no matter what it is you are dealing with, chances are you can find a way to get help.
On top of that, there are quite a few smaller sites who specialize in smaller niches or offer specific treatment techniques others don’t, such as Gestalt for example. We normally suggest starting out with one of the larger online therapy companies – because that’s where you have the highest chance of finding help – but you can also read below and get some more specific recommendations before making up your mind.
Couples therapy or counseling can be done in two ways: you can either meet individually with a therapist and discuss the problems you are dealing with, or do a 3-way session with your significant other.
Solo sessions are also very helpful for people who are not currently in a relationship but wish to discuss issues that arose in their past relationships, or get help with their struggle of establishing a new relationship.
Regain Counseling is by far the best place to get help with any relationship troubles. Owned and operated by Betterhelp, one of the best therapy sites in the world, this is a platform which is completely dedicated to couples therapy. The only major downside is that because it uses the Betterhelp software, live multiway sessions are not possible – if you want to do a joint session, you and your partner will have to physically be together in the same space.
To find other options and get a more detailed comparison of Regain with its competitors, read our best couples therapy sites article.
As you might have guessed, marriage counseling and couples therapy are very similar to one another and often overlap. The main difference between the two stems from the focus of the treatment. While couples therapy looks into past events and issues, marriage counseling is usually focused on dealing with the struggles of day to day life as a married couple.
Still, due to the similarity between the two, we also believe Regain is the best place to find marriage counseling online. You can read our best marriage counseling sites comparison to find out exactly why we think that’s the case.
While relationships and tensions with your immediate family are often the focal point of any psychological treatment, family therapy is actually quite different than that. In order for it to be effective, the counselor must act as a mediator of sorts and make sure each family member can voice his feelings and concerns.
Furthermore, it is essential that sessions focus on dealing with current, day to day issues so that you can find a way to move forward as a functioning and healthy family unit. This isn’t the right place to deal with ancient grudges or play the blaming game.
Family therapy is best done in a group. It’s possible to start even if one of your family members refuses to participate, or even do it by yourself, but it will be much less effective in the long run this way. Our most recommended site for families is Rethink My Therapy – mainly because they have a very good selection of counselors who focus on it, and a very cost-effective family plan.
You can read our Rethink My Therapy review, or our comparison of the best family therapy sites to see whether or not your family might benefit from this type of counseling.
Young people nowadays find virtual therapy more intuitive and easier to adapt to. Chatting with a counselor feels much easier and less formal, and it doesn’t carry the same stigma going to a clinic often does.
Official statistics indicate a third of U.S teens are dealing with mental health issues on a daily basis. If your kid is showing signs of distress, it doesn’t mean you failed as a parent or did anything wrong. The only important thing is to focus on the now, and make sure they get the help they need as quickly as possible.
Teen Counseling is widely considered the best site for teenagers to get help at. The parents can sign up and “invite” the child after first meeting and screening potential therapists themselves, or the child can go on and sign up themselves. It’s worth noting that this site only offers treatment for children aged 13 and above – so if your kid is younger than that you might want to try out Amwell instead, where treatment is available for anyone 10 years or older. You can also read our top teen counseling sites comparison for other options.
Faith plays a huge part in many people’s lives, and influences the way they view themselves and the world around them. In the past, it was common to view psychological needs as a shame or even a sin, since your faith should be the only help you need.
Luckily, this view is slowly giving way to a more flexible dogma, where one is advised to use every available tool at their disposal to improve their mental wellbeing. This shift in thinking has led to the creation of several faith focused therapy platforms, which aim to fuse together modern science and traditional, religious beliefs and way of life.
In the U.S in particular, there are quite a few excellent Christian therapy sites with the best one currently being Faithful Counseling. The way treatment is conducted is entirely up to you – you can basically tell the therapists how much of a role religion should play in your weekly therapy session. Nevertheless, all therapists are practicing Christians and the defined goal of the treatment is to offer psychological solutions using faith as a guide and moral compass.
Read reviews and do proper research on your own. You can find all the relevant information here on our site, but in the end nobody knows yourself better than you do. Take a look at a few of our recommended online therapy sites and see which one you feel the most comfortable with. Most of the best online therapy sites offer a free trial, or at the very least let you sign up and take a look around before you pay for any treatment.
We understand this can be confusing and somewhat overwhelming. Many of the sites look great at first glance, but it can be hard to trust online reviews and it might feel stressful to commit to any specific platform. If this is starting to feel like too much, just remember that making the choice to seek for help is already half the struggle. We also compare the best therapy sites directly with one another, so our Betterhelp vs Talkspace page is a good place to start if you are still not exactly sure what you are looking for.
In the end, no matter which site you choose – you will be in safe hands and are more than likely to find a way to help yourself. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed by the information and struggling to choose, just remember that while nuances do matter, all sites we review offer the following things:
Fully anonymous, private and safe.
Various plans and price ranges that fit every wallet
Thousands of licensed therapists from anywhere in the U.S
Multiple ways to conduct remote sessions: video, chat or by phone
Hipaa compliant and accepts insurance
Thousands of positive reviews & testimonials across the web
Tailor made sessions and therapy types to suit your needs
Free trial or flexible subscription plans