Reviews (1)

Great for neurotypicals with basic problems. Any possibility of ever experiencing a crisis situation? Look elsewhere.

I thought things were going well. My first counselor was sketchy and useless, but my second one was fairly competent, giving me lots of advice and very successfully supporting me as I worked through the rough patch I was going through.

While I understood that BetterHelp does not help with crisis situations specifically, what I didn't know is that they will not tolerate clients experiencing any form of crisis. As a matter of fact, they outright abandon them. My counselor suggested that she may not be a good fit because she was having trouble finding time to communicate with me due to the holiday schedule, which is understandable. I asked who to contact and what to ask in order to get a more qualified counselor due to my diagnoses, but she never specified. Instead, after I admitted once again to struggles with suicidal ideation, going into detail about some of the delusions I had been having, I tried to log in the next day only for the website to claim that I did not have a valid account. In my email account, I find that the money was refunded on my PayPal account as well.

Finally, after discovering my account was gone AND having the money refunded, someone bothered to contact me, determined that "online counseling may not be the best resource for you," and sent me a link to PsychologyToday so I could "consider scheduling an intake with a licensed counselor who can provide [me] with in-person counseling in [my] area."

I don't understand why their counselors are not trained to hold the hand of their clients through making an appointment with a proper counselor. I do not understand why the crisis situation that I was in meant that the best course of action was "cut and run," though I can see the presumed liability involved. However, due to the fact that people with any kind of mental illness can reach a crisis situation, that makes this business incredibly unsafe for anyone who might need their services. Every single client currently enrolled in their services may one day experience the feeling of wanting to end their life and, if they risk sharing it with their BetterHelp counselor, they may find themselves with even more reason to back the idea that no one cares if they do it.

I am disgusted by the lack of compassion from a company that claims to help the mentally ill. I do not see how dropping clientele entirely will somehow "wipe the blood from their hands" if the client does decide to end their life. All I see is the potential for them to destroy the lives of thousands of people because they will not support them at their worst. A company that plays into the stigma surrounding suicide in a way that is not only careless, but outright dangerous.