HealthSapiens is a telehealth and medicine service which offers online counseling as part of its package of services. Unlike other telehealth companies such as Amwell or MDLive, who only view and treat counseling as a small sub-section of their overall services, therapy at Health Sapiens is actually very well developed and you stand a better chance of finding proper help.
The thing which truly sets Healthsapiens apart from competitors is the price. It’s not only objectively the most affordable therapy site, but the value you get in return is extraordinary. Just to illustrate – the Healthsapiens monthly subscription is almost 25% cheaper than the basic package over at Talkspace, and while Talkspace’s basic package includes no live sessions (chat only), Health Sapien’s includes 6 per month!
Despite all that, and as you’ll see throughout this Healthsapiens review, there are a few significant downsides to using this platform. All in all, we do think the positives outweigh the negatives, and that is why we have chosen to review and present it on our list of best online therapy sites. Still, we encourage you to read this review carefully, compare Health Sapiens with its competitors, and figure out whether it’s the right fit for you or not.
Health Sapiens INC is a private company based in New York City, with almost 50 employees at its main office. As is the case with all telehealth companies, it is highly regulated and follows strict laws which are aimed at protecting patient privacy and wellbeing.
With over 14 years of operation, and excellent user reviews everywhere online, Healthsapiens have already done more than enough to prove they can be trusted.
| Year Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| U.S Based Company | Yes |
| Number of Licensed Therapists | 1000 |
| Accepts Insurance? | No |
| Hipaa compliant | Yes |
| Therapy Modes | Chat, Audio and Video |
| Available Treatments | Private and Teen Therapy |
| Average Price | $49.25 Per Week |
| Sign Up Time | Less Than a Minute |
| Response Time | 24/7 |
| Mobile App | No |
| Website | healthsapiens.com |
| Customer Reviews | 91% positive |
| Our Editorial Rating | 4 Stars |
| Current Promotion | None |
Signing up to the platform is incredibly easy and takes less than a minute to complete. All you need to do is fill out your full name, email address and credit card information, and you are set to go. You’ll then be matched with a potential therapist in just a matter of minutes, and the pre-clinical meeting will be held on the same day or a day later at most.
The pre-clinical session is an informal meeting with your potential match, which allows both of you to introduce yourself and discuss your shared goals and expectations for the upcoming therapy. This is also where you’ll be able to decide how many weekly sessions are necessary, and set dates for them with your counselor. The meeting usually takes 15 minutes, and if you are unhappy with your match you can then ask to get a new one instead.
The Healthsapiens therapy package includes 6 live sessions each month, as well as the ability to communicate with your counselor 24/7 by chat. If you decide you want more live sessions each week, you can do so for an extra fee. Live sessions do not carry over between months, so if you haven’t used your quota for a certain month, those sessions are lost.
The speed at which this all happens is truly impressive, so if you are the type of person who doesn’t like waiting and want to get things rolling as soon as possible, this will feel really great and smooth. That said, if you read the above carefully, you might have noticed there are a few issues with how the process is handled, which needs to be addressed and considered first.
The biggest issue we have is with having to pay first and not being able to choose your own therapist even once you do pay. Sure, it’s really nice that the matching process happens so quickly, but still we would always prefer to have more control over it. And yes, you can always ask to change your therapist for a new one, but given the fact customer support is so slow to respond, this is easier said than done.
Healthsapiens live sessions are 50 minutes long. Sometimes the video quality is low and you may experience random disconnects, but we found the therapists to be extremely accommodating – we were always allowed to reschedule or make up for the lost time by extending the meeting or the one after it.
Of course, if the video chat is lagging you can also always ask to switch over to the phone instead. At $32.8 a month per session, prices are so attractive that it easily makes up for the inconvenience of the software.
At first glance, Healthsapiens do not have the strictest requirements from potential therapists on their site. All you have to do is present a license from your state’s board, a Masters degree in a relevant field and at least 1 year of hands-on experience.
In reality though, the overall level of counselors on the site is excellent and actually exceeded our expectations. As discussed previously, we had a few issues with the site, but the quality of treatment was never one of them. And even though the base requirements are fairly lenient we did find that most therapists on the site have much better credentials than that – with many of them holding a PhD and 10 years or more of actual experience practicing therapy.
Healthsapiens offer only one subscription plan and it is extremely simple and straightforward. You pay $197 each month and in return you get 6 live sessions and unlimited texting and chatting with your counselor. There’s absolutely no extra charge for the live sessions, unless you choose to book more than 6 – at which point you’ll be charged per session.
While this doesn’t offer a whole lot of flexibility, the package definitely makes up for it in both price and the value it gives you. Considering everything you get in return – we can without a question declare that Health Sapiens is currently the most affordable, best value for money therapy
